“Playing 48 solid minutes”: Chot Reyes explains TNT’s winning formula in Game 4

Three nights after a collapse that threatened to tilt the series permanently out of their grasp, TNT Tropang 5G stormed back into the PBA Finals with urgency etched into every possession—and made sure San Miguel Beer felt it immediately, emphatically, and without reprieve.

From the opening tip of Game 4 on Wednesday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, TNT played like a team intent on erasing the sting of its previous defeat. The Tropang 5G unloaded a ferocious 13-0 run to start the contest, seizing control before the Beermen could settle in. By the end of the first quarter, TNT had already built a commanding 35-18 advantage, forcing San Miguel into early damage control.

Any hopes of a Beermen response quickly unraveled in the second quarter. TNT doubled down on its aggression—pushing the tempo, spacing the floor, and capitalizing on every defensive lapse. The result was a stunning 65-40 halftime lead that drained the Finals atmosphere long before the break. What was expected to be a tightly contested swing game instead turned into a one-sided showcase of TNT’s firepower and focus.

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The Tropang 5G were relentless. Their lead swelled to as much as 35 points, effectively turning the second half into a formality. When the final buzzer sounded, TNT’s 110-87 rout not only evened the race-to-four championship series at 2-2, but also reset the Finals into what now amounts to a best-of-three showdown.

TNT head coach Chot Reyes, long associated with the rallying cry “Puso” during his tenure with Gilas Pilipinas, downplayed any dramatic pregame speeches. Instead, the veteran tactician emphasized execution and consistency as the true difference in Game 4.

TNT coach Chot Reyes and Calvin Oftana after winning Game 4 #PBAFinals | @jonasterradoINQ

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“Not at all. Playing 48 solid minutes every game is all we want to do since this series started. That was our problem in the two losses – we started bad and had a hard time the rest of those games,” Reyes said in a press conference.

Reyes pointed to the stark contrast between Games 3 and 4, particularly in how TNT managed momentum and leads—an area that had cost them dearly just days earlier.

“We were very different in Game 4. In Game 3, we were down 17 at one point, went on to lead by 11, so that’s a plus-28 for us. If we can take care of leads, we can spare ourselves endgames like that of Game 3,” he added.

The reference was impossible to miss. In Game 3, TNT appeared poised to seize a 2-1 series lead after going up 89-86 in the final 50 seconds, only to watch San Miguel’s CJ Perez erupt for seven straight points to steal the win in heartbreaking fashion.

“If we had taken care of that plus-28, there wouldn’t have been a final minute opportunity for San Miguel like that for Game 3,” Reyes concluded.

With momentum swinging back in their favor and the series now deadlocked, Reyes will be looking for his squad to carry over the discipline and intensity from Game 4 into the pivotal Game 5. That contest is scheduled for Friday, January 30, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo—where both teams will vie to take control of what has suddenly become a brand-new Finals series.

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