MANILA, Philippines—Team Chris dominated the Master Game Face Challenge Saturday night, winning the three-point shootout and the all-star game before an appreciative crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Kevin Ferrer, Jeff Chan and Chris Tiu, with the help of 17 points from Kevin Love, were named the 3-point kings, spoiling Love’s 19-point effort for Team Marc which had Jeric Teng, Gary David and Roi Sumang.
Love, an NBA All-Star 3-point shootout champion, showed everyone in Manila his fine shooting touch, firing10 triples in a row during his turn for Team Marc.
“It’s great to see how much you love basketball. It gets me fired up and excited,” Love told the packed Big Dome before the match, which was preceded by the PBA semifinals.
Local big man Greg Slaughter seemed to have picked up a few things from that and later on nailed three triples to lead Team Chris to a 135-110 blowout win.
“It’s pretty exciting to see Kevin Love come out here, he’s a top caliber NBA player,” Slaughter, who was named MVP of the match, said in an interview.
“He [Kevin Love] is a big man that could shoot, so I’m feeling inspired today,” the Barangay Ginebra center, who finished with 27 points on 3-of-5 3-point shooting, said.
Love didn’t join the game, but participated in the shooting stars’ challenge with his own team right after.
It would’ve been a Team Chris shutout that night as they clocked in at 1:09, but Love nailed a half-court shot to lift his side with time of 1:08.
It was a first time visit for the NBA superstar, who also attended a basketball clinic at the Manila Boystown and a charity auction at Fairmont Hotel in Makati on Friday.
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