Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Barangay Ginebra survived Rain or Shine, 96-94, and advanced to the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Monday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Gin Kings arranged a best-of-seven finals showdown with defending champion San Miguel Beer beginning Friday night.
Ginebra blew a double-digit lead but drew big plays from the likes of Scottie Thompson, Joe Devance, Greg Slaughter and LA Tenorio to outduel Rain or Shine down the stretch.
“I’m so relieved we don’t have to play a Game 5 against this team. What an incredible battle,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone. “They never went away and we couldn’t separate ourselves from them. They’re just really tough down the stretch.”
“We’re happy to be where we are, we’re happy to be playing San Miguel. You wanna have a great challenge and there’s nothing more challenging in our league than playing this San Miguel which might be the greatest team of all time. I mean, they could very well be the greatest team of all time,” Cone added.
The Kings had the lead majority of the game but the Elasto Painters were never discouraged despite falling behind by as much as 14 and just kept coming back. The Painters briefly pulled ahead, 90-88, on a jumper by Gabe Norwood before Tenorio answered right away with a go-ahead 3-pointer, 91-90, with 2:08 left and the Kings never trailed again.
Rain or Shine still had the chance to tie the game but Ginebra made one last defensive stop courtesy of a Thompson steal off an inbound pass by Norwood as time expired.
Thompson finished with only six points but it was in the other departments where he showed his value. Aside from the game-sealing steal, the crafty guard also had a couple of crucial rebounds, including an offensive board that resulted to a basket by Tenorio that gave Ginebra a 95-90 cushion with 37.9 seconds remaining.
“He seemed like he was grabbing everything, jumping over everybody, jumping over Johnson, jumping over Almazan and getting that offensive rebound. He just makes me speechless. Those were the plays of the game. Joe played great but I thought Scottie was going to be the player of the game just because of the rebounds he got because they were all super clutch,” Cone marvelled.
The 6-foot-1 Thompson had 10 rebounds, one more than the total rebounds combined by his towering teammates Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. He also had three steals.
Justin Brownlee, who had 44 points in a 75-72 win in Game 3, struggled from the field, making only four of his 14 attempts but he more than made up for his offensive woes with game-highs of 17 rebounds and eight assists.
Reggie Johnson powered the top-seeded Painters with 22 points and 16 rebounds.