Questions answered from PBA Govs' Cup Finals Game 5

TNT is now one win away from keeping its PBA Governors' Cup crown. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--TNT took a crucial PBA Governors' Cup Finals Game 5 win in front of 12,727 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City and moved to within one win from staying as the conference champion.

How did they end up there? Let's take a review of our pre-final points.

Tried to get a bucket vs. TNT but it's empty

Of course, we should begin a TNT win recap by talking about their defense.

After conceding 106 points, the most this series, in its Game 4 loss, the team held Ginebra to only 72 points, the least this series, in Game 5.

Also, from 56.3 percent in Game 4, the Gin Kings' field goal shooting was chopped to only 32 percent in Game 5.

The key stat is the two-point shooting where they only made 35.9 percent.

Japeth Aguilar, their most reliable player to score the layups and dunks, was only 2-for-8, while Maverick Ahanmisi did not make a single field goal in the game.

"I said, 'Let's go back to what got us here and that is just playing great defense.' And very fortunately, the players responded," coach Chot Reyes said.

What's your poison now, TNT?

The "poison" of the game for TNT belongs to Kelly Williams. PBA Images

After two straight games of probably expecting too much from the consistent contributors, the Tropang Giga went back to their depth, and they found Kelly Williams.

Reyes decided to start Williams at the center position, and he contributed right away with seven points in the first quarter and finished with 11.

"Kelly was a huge lift starting the game for us, and I think that was the key for us in this game," Reyes further said.

Considering that he only scored a total of seven points in the first four games, Williams was surely the "poison" for TNT in Game 5.

"They know I’ve been struggling on and off the court, they just really rallied around me. They basically told me they believed in me and that gave me a lot of confidence and fuel to make sure I come in and focus and do whatever the team needs me to do to get a win," Williams said.

Justin Brownlee's 'cherry on top'?

In the same conference where he tallied his career-high, Justin Brownlee was held to single digits for the first time in his PBA stint. PBA Images

Justin Brownlee is now one loss away from dropping yet another PBA finals against the same team that broke his "invincibility".

And in a very crucial game, "Magic" Brownlee somehow disappeared like magic, only tallying a PBA career-low eight points on 3-for-13 shooting and a combined 0-for-5 from beyond the two outside arcs.

For the first time since arriving in 2016, Brownlee failed to score in double digits, and although coach Tim Cone could have still played Brownlee in the fourth quarter to keep the streak alive, he had seen enough and rested his resident import for the said period as Ginebra was already down big.

"I think we were fortunate that he had an off night," Reyes further said.

Interestingly enough, Brownlee, who has been known to be very approachable to the media to the point he would jokingly ask the reports, "Are we good?" if he is to be asked some questions, quickly left the arena after the Game 5 loss.

With some speculations about his real health status, although both Cone and Brownlee kept on insisting it was just cramps, we're only about to find out if Brownlee will fight back with a vengeance or if there is something really wrong with his legs.

The only sure thing, according to Cone, is that his team lost.

"It doesn't really matter what he did individually. It just matters that we lost by [27] points, and it actually doesn't even matter that we lost by [27] points. The bottom line is we lost," Cone said.

Can TNT decode Ginebra? (aka Game 6 lookahead)

Can TNT complete the decoding of Ginebra? We can only find out on Friday as Game 6 will take place back at "The Big Dome".

Seeing a supermajority of Gin King fans in the first five games, there is a possibility that more Tropang Giga fans will show up and at least trim down the fan ratio a bit as their team looks for the kill.

However, Reyes braces for another explosion from Brownlee in a do-or-die game for Ginebra to send the series back to the Ynares Center in Antipolo for Game 7 on Sunday night.

"Coach Tim... kind of preparing him for a 'one step backward, two steps forward' attack in the next game, so we just need to be ready," Reyes further said.

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