AND it's a duel for the crucial head start in what's now a best-of-three dispute.
Barangay Ginebra seeks to stretch its run while TNT looks to recover from a two-game slide as they duke it out in the pivotal fifth gig of the PBA Governors' Cup Last Dance at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.
There's no more individual awards to think about, and the two teams are afresh from a two-day breather as they fight for the 3-2 lead in the race-to-four series.
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. with another big crowd expected in the keenly followed series marked by a 16,783-strong gate attendance in Game Four Sunday at the Big Dome.
Also high are the TV ratings being drawn, and it could only go higher with the series winding down to an end.
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It could only be Game Six or Game Seven now, with Game Five probably serving as the springboard to glory for the eventual champions. And this hints at a slam bang Wednesday setto.
It would be about desire, determination and which team could execute as it has been in the first four games.
It was all about TNT in Game One (104-88) and Game Two (96-84) before Ginebra turned things around and struck back in Game Three (85-73) and Game Four (106-92).
For Game Five, the Kings could have a slight edge with the momentum brought about by their victories in the last two games.
Justin Brownlee was at the forefront of a torrid Ginebra offense Sunday, firing two four-pointers and three treys to highlight a 34-point sizzler and lead the Kings to the 14-point victory.
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Stephen Holt drained four treys on the way to an 18-point production, the same outputs put in by Maverick Ahanmisi and Japeth Aguilar as the Kings hit the century mark for the first time in the series after averaging just 85.6 in the first three games.
The Kings hit at an impressive 56.3-percent clip, with an even higher 60-percent marksmanship (3-of-5) from the four-point zone.
Cone, however, said it's not just about putting the ball in the hoops but making the stops.
"This is the finals, it's going to be a tough go offensively always in the finals. Everybody wants to win so badly that it's never just about making shots. It's always about how much guys are going to defend and rebound and hustle. And that's what we've been able to do this last two games," said Cone.
"In terms of our offense, we just kept making big shots when we needed to. We've been doing that pretty much all conference long. It seems like when the team started to make a run at us, somebody hits a big shot. Stephen was the one making those big shots, Maverick hit that big four, Justin had one. We've been fortunate that we've been hitting the big shots when it counts," Cone added.
But there would surely be Rondae Hollis-Jefferson as a roadblock Wednesday.
And there would be the whole TNT team raring to rise back.(SB)
