BARANGAY Ginebra rose in an All Saints Day duel with TNT and got into the fight in the PBA Governors' Cup finale with an 85-73 triumph at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday.
Dealt a neat spanking in the first two games, the Kings broke out of a slump with coach Tim Cone effecting a major shuffle in his rotation, finally pulling one against TNT with a nine-man crew including veterans LA Tenorio and Joe Devance.
Tenorio played 16 minutes and 41 seconds, and made an impact with a 4-of-4 clip from the two-point zone and one-of-one from the stripe plus four steals.
Devance returned from sickbay and contributed two assists, one rebound and one steal, and not to mention his turn to put defensive muscles of TNT import Rondae Hollis Jefferson.
Justin Brownlee, Maverick Ahanmisi, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar and Stephen Holt logged in their usual numbers as the Kings stopped the Tropang Giga's searing charge and thus closed in at 1-2 in the race-to-four-game series.
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The Kings seek equalizer as Ginebra and TNT resume their title playoff with Game Four also at the Big Dome Sunday.
Ginebra continued to struggle in shooting from afar but endured a low-scoring duel, holding TNT 17 points off its average in the first two games.
Tenorio joined Brownlee, Thompson, Aguilar and Holt in the starting unit as - a Ginebra adjustment that somehow produced positive result with the Kings taking control most of the way.
A big key was the defensive effort they thrown at the Tropang Giga holding them down to their second lowest output in the conference, next only to the 72 they scored in their 12-point loss to Terrafirma back in the elims.
"We certainly played a lot better, especially on defense," said Cone, whose team limited the Tropang Giga to 32.6 percent shooting (28 of 86) while firing at an improved rate of 50 percent (33 of 66).
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"I think coming from the San Miguel series (in the semis) we're a little bit worn and not as focused as we should be. The two games kind of woke us up so hopefully this gets us going in the series," he added.
Brownlee led the Ginebra parade with 18 points, 13 rebounds and four assists as Ahanmisi, Thompson, Aguilar and Holt added at least 10 points each.
Hollis-Jefferson led TNT with 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.(SB)
The Scores :
GINEBRA 85 - Brownlee 18, Ahanmisi 16, Thompson 15, J.Aguilar 10, Holt 10, Tenorio 9, Cu 3, Abarrientos 2, Devance 2.
TNT 73 - Hollis-Jefferson 24, Erram 12, Castro 10, Pogoy 10, Oftana 9, Khobuntin 4, Nambatac 2, Williams 2, Aurin 2.
QUARTERS : 20-19, 42-39, 62-59, 85-73
