Massive win over Hotshots eases pressure for Gin Kings

MANILA, Philippines — Heading into a colossal clash with San Miguel on Sunday, Barangay Ginebra’s Christmas Day thriller win over the Magnolia Hotshots took pressure off of them, head coach Tim Cone said, as the playoff race intensifies.

Ginebra banked on the heroics of Scottie Thompson to escape Magnolia, 95-92, in “Manila Clasico” match last December 25.

Ginebra is now at 4-2, good for fifth place in the conference.

And on Sunday, the Gin Kings will take on the defending champions, who are at 3-3 in the season.

After their win over the Hotshots, Cone said that the win gave them a little leeway as the conference heats up.

“t takes a little bit of pressure off us because we remain, you know, towards the group on top. If we had lost, we would have dropped down to, you know, the middle or bottom, and so it takes pressure off,” he told reporters. 

“It's really hard to come into a game and be must-win, must-win, must-win. So, it puts a lot of pressure on you. We need to come into San Miguel feeling confident and comfortable with our game, and we did that,” he added.

“We usually perform pretty well against them. But when we come in having to win a must-win, it's really tough against a team as talented as San Miguel.”

The top eight teams after the eliminations will head to the quarterfinals. 

The Gin Kings, though, will have a tough schedule ahead, as they face strong teams who are eyeing to make it to the next round. 

“We got San Miguel next. Coming off the break, we got San Miguel. So, it doesn't get any easier,” he said.

After Sunday’s clash against the Beermen, the Gin Kings will face top-seeded NorthPort, Blackwater (1-5), TNT (2-2), Rain or Shine (4-1) and Meralco (3-2). 

But the veteran coach reiterated that with how contrasting their past two games have been, anything can happen. 

Before Ginebra’s comeback win, it lost against Converge, 98-91, in a game where the FiberXers stormed back from a huge deficit. 

Which is why the Gin Kings had to smoothen things out and give themselves a fighting chance every single time. 

“We always say that every game is different. There's always going to be something different. Next game, maybe we go out by, win by, I mean, lead by 20 and win by one, or maybe it's a one-point game the whole way through,” Cone said.

“You know, every game is different. So, we just proved that over the last two games we played.”