TNT Tropang Giga and San Miguel Beer clash in Game 5 of their best-of-seven finals series of Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the series tied at 2-2, neither team has a clear advantage in the seesawing series.
Two days after coaching the national team in a FIBA World Cup Asia qualifiers against Saudi Arabia, TNT head coach Chot Reyes told BusinessMirror that he’s bracing for a huge San Miguel Beer comeback in the game that starts at 5:45 p.m.
He downplayed his team’s 100-87 victory on Sunday night.
“San Miguel Beer is a very, very strong team so we have to play our very, very best to have a chance of beating them,” Reyes said. “If we play the same game as in Game 5, we’re dead … it’s still not our best, we just caught them off guard.”
Reyes said they need to adjust in every game in the series.
Jayson Castro was the dominant player for TNT with his 26 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Roger Pogoy added 21 points and Mikey Williams 15 points.
Reyes praised veteran Kelly Williams for providing stability in the shaded lane. He finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.
“That’s why I convinced him [Williams] to return to the team,” Reyes said.
Williams retired last year for personal reasons, but Reyes convinced him to return after he himself came back as TNT’s head coach.
The Beermen’sisx-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo said they would bounce back.
“We really need to regroup and see what else is needed to corrected and adjust, ,” said Fajardo, who had 20 points and 19 rebounds in Game 4 where he was also the Best Player of the Conference.
TNT was undeniably the better team in Game 4 with only three turnovers to San Miguel Beer’s 15.