GSM disconnects TNT, draws first blood in PBA Finals

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel buried the biggest shots down the stretch to frustrate the TNT Tropang 5G, 102-100, in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals on June 3, 2026, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

Trailing by five points with only 2:49 remaining in regulation, the Gin Kings desperately needed someone to get going to help them generate some offense, and answering the call was RJ Abarrientos, who dished a sweet dime to Troy Rosario that ended Ginebra’s scoring drought, 92-95.

After a completed defensive stop, Abarrientos took matters into his own hands and drained a momentum-boosting 4-pointer that put Ginebra back in the driver’s seat, 96-95.

With only 41 seconds left, a costly foul whistled on Ginebra put RR Pogoy on the free throw line, which he capitalized on after the clutch charities steered TNT to a 97-96 advantage.

Just when TNT thought Ginebra would run a dribble handoff between Justin Brownlee and Scottie Thompson, the Gin Kings’ decoy action worked wonders as Abarrientos slid to the top of the key and got the matchup he wanted over Jordan Heading.

After taking a couple of dribbles to the left elbow, everyone in Araneta stood in shock as Abarrientos confidently hoisted a long 4-point Hail Mary shot with 5.4 seconds left on the shot clock.

The looping ball took almost two seconds before reaching the cylinder.

All of a sudden, the deafening silence immediately turned to pandemonium after Abarrientos cashed in the cold-blooded 4-pointer, giving the Gin Kings a 100-97 lead with only 21.6 seconds left in the game.

The Tropang 5G wouldn’t be denied after Pogoy deadlocked the chess match at 100-all with a clutch 3-pointer, forcing Ginebra head coach Tim Cone to burn a much-needed timeout.

As expected, Ginebra turned to Brownlee in its final possession. After receiving a staggered screen from Abarrientos, the superstar import dribbled to the center and navigated his options.

The Ginebra players all cleared on the left side, signaling an isolation play for Brownlee against the tough defense of TNT reinforcement Chris McCullough.

With only 5.4 seconds left, Brownlee took three hard dribbles to his sweet spot and schooled McCullough’s defense with the game-sealing fadeaway bank shot for a two-point lead, 102-100.

The Tropang 5G had one final chance to tie or win the game, but Heading’s inbound alley-oop play to a curling Oftana was disrupted by none other than Brownlee, who was manning TNT’s dunker spot.

Brownlee spearheaded Ginebra’s comeback victory with 23 points, including the game-winning fadeaway jumper, while Abarrientos, who came up clutch with two crucial 4-pointers, finished with the same number of points as Brownlee.

Rosario also stepped up when the Gin Kings needed him the most, delivering 16 markers and nine rebounds, while Thompson added an all-around effort of 15 points, six assists, and five rebounds.

On the other hand, the Tropang 5G received a game-high 25-point performance from McCullough, 22 points from Pogoy, and 19 points from Rey Nambatac.

Both teams will meet again today for Game 2 of the import-laced conference finals. Can TNT strike back and even the series? Or will Ginebra maintain momentum and race to a commanding 2-0 lead?