TNT beat Barangay Ginebra 101-94 in Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Friday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum, knotting the best-of-seven series at 1-1 after surviving a furious late comeback.
The margin never reflected how close the finish was: TNT led by as many as 22 points before Ginebra chipped away in the fourth and cut the deficit to 98-94 on a Justin Brownlee basket with under a minute left. Calvin Oftana iced the game with two free throws with 18 seconds remaining to restore a seven-point cushion and close out the win.
Oftana carried TNT offensively, finishing with 31 points and 10 rebounds on 11-of-18 shooting and five triples. Chris McCullough added a physical presence inside with 19 points and 16 rebounds, and Jordan Heading contributed 14 points. For Ginebra, Brownlee posted 24 and 15 rebounds while RJ Abarrientos had 21; bench contributors Jeremiah Gray and Isaac Go combined for 23 points off the pine.
The win mattered immediately: TNT avoided an 0-2 hole in the finals and will head into Game 3—scheduled Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena—tied instead of trailing, shifting the momentum back to a tight series where adjustments will be decisive.
Still, the game exposed a serious late-game vulnerability for TNT. Ginebra erased that 22-point margin largely on the strength of its reserves, a surge that left TNT coach Chot Reyes blunt about his team's second unit after the buzzer: he said the coaching staff reminded players not to relax with a big lead, and that Ginebra’s bench “completely outplayed ours,” a point he said would feature heavily in the team’s postgame conversation.
That friction — a comfortable blowout that briefly turned razor-close — came down to who could execute through pressure. TNT’s starters set the tone early and the two-way play of Oftana and McCullough built the buffer. McCullough, who arrived at Smart Araneta Coliseum six hours before the 7:30 p.m. tipoff to get extra work in, scored eight of his points in the first quarter and finished 8-of-21 from the floor while missing all six three-point attempts.
McCullough played down the shooting slump and framed his early arrival as routine preparation, saying he came in early to shoot more and that he’d do the same again. He also stressed TNT’s game plan: be aggressive, rebound more and play collective defense — the practical steps he said the team must repeat.
Ginebra’s late push underlined where the series can swing. Brownlee and Abarrientos delivered as expected, but it was the bench that manufactured the 16-6 run late that reminded everyone the Finals will be won not only by starters but by depth. Reyes flagged that production as a problem for TNT to solve before Sunday.
Two clear lessons emerge heading into Game 3. First, TNT has shown a reliable blueprint: jump on Ginebra early, lean on Oftana’s scoring and McCullough’s rebounding, and force the opposition to play from behind. Second, if TNT’s reserves cannot match Ginebra’s second unit, the bench battle will hand momentum back to Barangay Ginebra quickly.
Which side adjusts better in two days will decide whether the series tilts. For now, TNT leaves Smart Araneta with the series even and a workable plan; the onus is on its bench to convert that plan into consistent 48-minute execution when the teams meet at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday. Coverage around the finals continues across league outlets, including a recent FilmoGaz piece on TNT Sports commentators.
