The game plan for TNT all along was to let Justin Brownlee win games against the Tropang 5G. 

And while it seemed like a "pick your poison" type of gamble, it somehow worked wonders for the Triopa particularly in the do-or-die Game 6 when they pulled off a 98-80 win to force the winner-take-all Game 7.

But how does it exactly work?

The plan is simple. Wear down Brownlee and have him do most of the lifting until he breaks down. And to do that, the crucial part lies on how they actually defend the rest of the team.

And that's exactly what happened in Game 6 when no one other than Brownlee scored in double figures for Ginebra. Actually, Brownlee, like in Game 5, almost won it for the Kings by pouring 52 points — just a day removed after resetting a career-high 54.

But with Chris McCullough matching him point-for-point, the lack of local support had never been more glaring for the Kings.

“Well, that's really the game plan to force Justin to work for his points but to make sure none of the locals get going,” said TNT head coach Chot Reyes

Troy Rosario was the best local scorer for Ginebra with nine. The usual local scoring punch in RJ Abarrientos and Scottie Thompson was limited to just six and two points, respectively, combining for subpar 2-of-18 from the field.

“Unfortunately, that game plan backfired on us last game because Justin beat us almost by himself really. But again, super player, there's very little we can do to stop him so our best bet really is defending the others,” added Reyes.

Fully conceding that TNT cannot fully stop Brownlee, another part of the plan is to make sure that he also bleeds for his points even if he reaches 50 — something that they failed to do in Game 5 when he also got open shots.

The problem, however, for TNT heading into Game 7 is manpower with Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Calvin Oftana and Jayson Castro all questionable, especially since they are the more reliable defenders to Ginebra’s locals

Can TNT survive another big game from Brownlee?