San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent expressed his desire to flip the script and break the trend of their semifinals series against Barangay Ginebra ahead of their pivotal Game 5.

But the Beermen hardly had any chance in doing so as the Kings made a big retaliation to retake a 3-2 lead.

So far, it has been a back-and-forth affair, with the two teams only trading wins –- as if the first squad to finally break the cycle will get the higher chance of winning the series.

And now it’s Ginebra’s turn to break the pattern but multi-titled mentor Tim Cone believes that the task would be a lot more harder in Game 6 since it’s also the chance for the Kings to close out the series.

The contest which promises to be another thriller of a showdown between the league heavyweights is set at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“That’s why it’s so hard in the playoffs. I keep telling our team that the hardest win in the playoffs is the one after you win, that’s the hardest win because the other team’s gonna come back with adjustments, more fire but with a different mindset,” said Cone.

“It’s now flipping towards them and I'm gonna say the same thing, we’ll try to stop the pattern and see if we can come out in Game 6 but it’s hard against a really good team like San Miguel,” he added.

Playing at the same level of efficiency and intensity as the Kings performance in the 121-92 Game 5 win over the Beermen would certainly help the cause for Ginebra in the potential clincher according to Cone although he admitted that there was no guarantee that they would perform the same.

For one, Cone said Ginebra needed a special night, highlighted by 31-15 lead at the assist department, 6-19 advantage in turnovers and a high 54.8 percent clip from the field, to take down SMB.

“It’s hard against a really good team like San Miguel. We expected so much energy to win tonight, it’s hard to have that same energy coming into the next game,” Cone pointed out.

“We played a special game tonight but yeah can we follow it up that’s the big question,” he added.

Make no mistake though, Cone said Ginebra aims to bring its A-game with Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson and even rookie RJ Abarrientos leading the charge to finally make it to the Finals and arrange a clash against TNT.

A shot at a rematch against the team that defeated them for the Governors’ Cup title should be enough motivation for Ginebra although a San Miguel team, bannered by June Mar Fajardo, is not one to just roll over and die.