TNT, SMB now focus on the task at hand — winning Game 2

After a close Game 1 of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Finals — marred by the “basket interference” controversy — protagonists San Miguel Beermen and TNT Tropang 5G now focus on winning Game 2.

San Miguel, the winningest franchise in PBA history, will try to tie the series at 1-1 while moving past their opening game loss, which was clouded by the PBA technical committee’s review of Mo Tautuaa’s dunk.

They will once again bank on the dominance of eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo, along with CJ Perez and the rest of the squad, to get the equalizer.

On the other side, TNT — eyeing the first grand slam in franchise history — will again lean on RR Pogoy, who returned in Game 1 after missing the latter part of the semifinals. Pogoy was named Best Player of the Game after finishing with 24 points, including 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc and a perfect 2-of-2 from the four-point line. He even knocked down a buzzer-beater before halftime to give TNT a 61-41 lead after leading just 28-22 at the end of the first quarter.

In that game, SMB tried to erase the 24-point deficit but still trailed by 19 at the end of the third period.

In the fourth and final canto, the Beermen mounted a comeback and even briefly took the lead. There was an exchange of three-pointers between Chris Ross and Pogoy at the end game before a jump ball was called — which then led to the controversial review.

TNT will also continue to rely on the brilliance of Jordan Heading and Calvin Oftana, along with their frontcourt unit of Poy Erram, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, and 2007–08 MVP Kelly Williams to contain Fajardo’s impact.

Now that both teams have moved on from their first encounter, the question is: who wants it more heading into Game 2, set later tonight — July 16, 7:30 PM — at the Smart Araneta Coliseum?