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Justin Brownlee (right) needed more support than he got in Game 2. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Barangay Ginebra and Bay Area returned to the floor Wednesday night looking for one small step ahead of the other in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup championship series that, before the New Year break, took the complexion of the super close series.
The Gin Kings will arrive at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City bearing the burden of adjustment after a 99-82 loss at the hands of the visiting Dragons last December 28 at the Big Dome, a return attack to the sender after Ginebra had defeated Bay Area with a 96-81 defeat in Game 1.
“I’m not sure who helped. It’s really a matter of who uses the rest the best,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone told the Inquirer, referring to the one-week break that gave both sides enough time to recover and recover.
Game time was 5:45 p.m., with Cone’s partner, Brian Goorjian, already knowing exactly what he was going to do to grab the series lead that had become a run-to-three.
“I don’t play very much to the bench. We are very dependent on it [import Andrew] Nicholson, and [he has] played every minute until it was over,” the Aussie coach said.
Interestingly, the advice should also be useful for the Kings.
Restricted
Justin Brownlee, the resident import, was the only player to score more than 11 points, finishing with 32 with 11 assists in Game 2.
Scottie Thompson, who came close to the Conference Player of the Year award, was limited to nine points and was almost a non-factor from the boards and playmaking with just three rebounds and a pair of assists.
“The good news for the fans is that both teams should come out fresh, which should be a good game for them. We are all excited for this,” said Cone, who will try to prevent his charges from playing like in the previous meeting.
“They made good adjustments. We knew it was going to be tough and tough [for us]. But they did make some nice adjustments and that’s the beauty of the series. Now it’s our turn to create. We’ll see,” Thompson said in Filipino.
Aside from Brownlee, only Jamie Malonzo was productive for many darlings during Game 2 loss, putting up 10 points with six boards.
“We got it in the first game and they responded,” Brownlee said. “We got a good rhythm offensively. I just think it’s going to take more effort on the break [Bay Area] down defensively,” he said. INQ
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