Will Finals go the distance?

The best-of-seven PBA Governors’ Cup Finals will go to a Game Six for sure and if the trend continues in the series between defending back-to-back champion Barangay Ginebra and TNT, a Game Seven looms in the horizon. The count is now 2-2 with the winner of Game Five tonight moving a victory away from capturing the crown.

It’s been a pendulum duel so far. Ginebra drew first blood by taking Game One, then TNT squared it up. Ginebra claimed Game Three and TNT levelled again. Ginebra has found exclusivity in the odd-numbered games and TNT, the even-numbered contests. In the previous conference, Ginebra went the distance in repulsing Bay Area and the series followed the trend where coach Tim Cone’s squad took every odd-numbered game until the end. TNT is out to avert a repeat of the sequence.

The team that wins tonight will get two chances to clinch while the loser must win two in a row to ascend the throne. It’s the reason why Game Five is pivotal. Momentum has shifted to TNT’s side after dominating last Sunday. TNT knocked down 21 triples to mow down Ginebra, 116-104 and led nearly the entire way, 46:41 minutes to be exact. That brought renewed confidence in coach Jojo Lastimosa’s troops as they manhandled Ginebra even without RR Pogoy and Justin Chua. Pogoy fractured a finger in Game Three and will sit out the rest of the Finals. He averaged 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and 37:58 minutes in the first three encounters. Lastimosa also employed Pogoy as a defender on Justin Brownlee so he’ll be missed. That only means Jayson Castro must play extended minutes and provide the spark off the bench to pace the continuity effort.

With Kelly Williams back in harness, Lastimosa has a solid piece in his defensive rotation on Christian Standhardinger. Calvin Oftana started for the first time this conference in Game Four and dropped 16 points. His versatility is a match for Jamie Malonzo. Oftana can play three or four, depending on how Lastimosa plans to shake up Ginebra’s offense. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is even more versatile and his coverage of Brownlee has been significant.

Cone takes his turn to adjust tonight and it could mean putting more teeth in Ginebra’s perimeter defense with Nards Pinto and Aljon Mariano at the forefront. Ginebra is waiting for Jeremiah Gray to regain the form that he displayed in averaging 12.25 points through the quarters and semis. Game Five could be the perfect stage for Gray’s reemergence. Japeth Aguilar has slowly worked his way back to Cone’s rotation and if he’s close to being even at 75 percent, he’ll be a factor.

Lastimosa has taken a page from Cone’s playbook in transforming a high-powered offensive team into an efficient defensive machine. In Game Two, Ginebra was held to 82 points and for TNT, that was a feat. The Tropa has to be as intense defensively in Game Five to be the first team in this conference Finals to win back-to-back, no matter if TNT shot the lights out in Game Four. For Ginebra, Cone is expected to come back recharged, relocked and reloaded. There will be tweaks on both ends as Ginebra attempts to preserve its mastery of the odd-numbered games.