Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals between the TNT Tropang 5G and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel boiled down to one thing, according to Tim Cone: TNT outplayed Ginebra in the second half.
Up three at the end of the first 24 minutes, Cone’s wards suddenly looked cold in the third as it scored a measly 15 points while surrendering 25 to TNT. The barangay’s offensive struggles continued in the first seven minutes of the final frame, where the Tropa extended their lead to 88-70.
Ginebra Got Beat Up, Says Cone
For Cone, the Tropa outright put a beating on the crowd darlings.
“We got beat up there in the second half,” Cone told reporters after Ginebra lost Game 4 to TNT at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. “They ‘outphysicaled’ us. They totally outplayed us in the second half. It just looked like we were tired.”
Cone is right. The Tropa gave the Gin Kings little room to breathe. They swarmed RJ Abarrientos and Justin Brownlee on defense, fought through screens, and outmuscled Ginebra on the boards. On the other side of the ball, TNT attacked the barangay’s defense with zeal, repeatedly getting to the paint and forcing Ginebra to scramble.
Ginebra Bench Makes Disappearing Act
It certainly didn’t help, too, that Ginebra’s bench—save for Troy Rosario—went silent in Game 4. Ralph Cu, who has been reliable in these playoffs, went 1-for-5 and looked out of sorts. Isaac Go badly missed four free throws in the third. Jeremiah Gray couldn’t get anything going.
“It was a night when we needed something from our bench, and we couldn’t get anything from our bench tonight and that really hurt,” Cone added. “We wanted to come back and do something special today and try to get that 3-1 lead, which is really, really hard to do. We just weren’t able to do it. They out-energized us, they outphysicaled us. Frankly, they outplayed us there in the second half.”
Yes, that was the story of Game 4. TNT played better when it mattered the most.
And now the series is down to a best of three.
