TNT coach Jojo Lastimoa refused to feel giddy after his charges moved within another win of reaching the Promised Land against defending champion Ginebra. For good reason.
“I wish I could flip the script. But it’s easier said than done going up against Ginebra, especially going up against Tim (Cone), going up against (Justin) Brownlee,” Lastimosa said. “You have to understand that coming in here, we have nothing to lose. These guys are just playing and if we’re given an opportunity to grab it and then beat them, we will.
“But they’re still the favorites. Even if we’re up 3-2, we’re not the favorites and we know how hard it takes to win over them,” he added.
Smelling blood, the Tropang Giga try to finish off the Kings today in Game 6 of their best-of-7 finals battle for the PBA Governors’ Cup crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The match is set at 5:45 p.m., with TNT out to wrap up the race-to-4 series after two straight wins in Game 4 (116-104) last Sunday and Game 5 (104-95) two days ago.
Down but not out, Ginebra is raring to forge a winner-take-all tiff and keep alive its title-retention bid in the season-ending tourney.
The deciding game, if necessary, will be on Sunday, April 23, also at the Big Dome.
The Tropang Giga will pin their hopes on best import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Calvin Oftana, Mikey Williams, Jayson Castro, Kelly Williams, and Glenn Khobuntin.
Cone is hoping Brownlee could recover from severe food poisoning that forced him to leave in the third quarter of Game 5.
“He had severe food poisoning and he tried to go through the first half and did a pretty good job, but by halftime he was out. You could see it when he started the second half, he just didn’t have anything. He was throwing up at halftime and he was throwing up on the bench when we took him out,” Cone said. “We’ve taken him to the hospital, maybe something we probably should have done before the game even started, probably should have had him in the hospital. But he wanted to come and try, and so he tried, but it wasn’t enough. Now it’s twice to beat.
“So, we’re gonna go out and hopefully Justin will be better after being in the hospital, we’ll see. Hopefully within 48 hours he can get back and get ready to play.”
With or without Brownlee, the likes of reigning MVP Scottie Thompson, Christian Standhardinger, Jamie Malonzo, Jeremiah Gray, and Stanley Pringle are expected to carry the fight for the Kings.
