TNT marches into finals

ANTIPOLO, Philippines — Back to the Last Dance and ready to take on their final challenger to the PBA Governors’ Cup crown.

Bent on reaching the championship round at the soonest possible time, holder TNT carried out its semifinal closeout mission against Rain or Shine with all its might and came away with a roaring 113-95 romp in Game 5 last night at the Ynares Center.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson typified the Tropang Giga’s determined effort at a 4-1 clincher as he turned in a comprehensive line of 36 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and six steals.

RHJ and Co. gunned down 12 unanswered points at the start of the second canto to create separation and set the tone for the runaway win as they kept their hunt for back-to-back diadems in the import-flavored conference going.

The five-game disposal of pesky ROS afforded the Chot Reyes-coached TNT extra days of breather with the best-of-seven championship series tipping off on Oct. 27 yet.

As the Tropang Giga play the waiting game, Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel Beer would kill each other off in their side of the Final Four. The Gin Kings wrested control of this back-and-forth series with a 121-92 romp earlier.

“We’re ready,” Hollis-Jefferson said of their finals stint. “All we can do for tonight is enjoy ourselves. We got a win and we’re going to the finals but that’s not the end for us, we want to be champions at the end of the day. So we know we got to do, take this rest and lock in, see who wins the other series and start that process.”

Japeth Aguilar of Ginebra is flanked underneath by June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez of San Miguel Beer last night. — PBA IMAGES

Earlier, rookie RJ Abarrientos and former MVP Scottie Thompson took the cudgels as the Gin Kings regained control against the Beermen and went a win away from the finale.

Abarrientos fired a career-high 28 while Thompson shot 22 to ease the burden on Justin Brownlee, who had 18-9-7.

“They (Beermen) came out with guns blazing in the beginning of the game. It’s like Game 4 all over again – they just came out firing and there was a lot of worry in the timeouts,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

“I thought RJ and Joe (DeVance) came out in that first quarter and kind of settled us down, hit some shots. Scottie did a great job at keeping us in the game early,” he added.