No letup: Kings, Tropa brace for another war

MANILA, Philippines — If putting Game 1 of the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup finals in the bag was uber-tough, Barangay Ginebra expects it to be a hellish ride against TNT’s strikeback attempt in Game 2.

The Gin Kings were made to bleed for a 1-0 head start in the best-of-seven affair, needing a pair of huge four-pointers from RJ Abarrientos and Justin Brownlee’s familiar fadeaway winner in the crunch to escape with a 102-100 verdict.

“I don’t know if I can make six more of these. They’re all going to be like this, it’s going to be a tough series,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said.

He was quick to temper the highs from that hard-earned win.

“It’s just Game 1. We lost Game 1 in the last (semifinal) series against Rain or Shine and we ended up winning the series in six games. So, that just goes to show you how little Game 1 means in terms of the big picture.”

Such a big picture is what the Tropang 5G are also looking at.

Though miffed about what they perceived as an uncalled foul against Brownlee on Calvin Oftana’s potential equalizer with 0.6 seconds left, the defending champions immediately refocused on Mission: 1-1 tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Alam ko may foul talaga eh, pero point-six seconds na lang ‘yung time, talagang blink of an eye na lang ‘yung nangyari,” said Oftana.

“Ganun talaga, pero mahaba pa naman yung series, so move forward na lang and adjust sa Game 2,” he added.

Ginebra threatened to blow TNT away in the opener.