For Joe Devance, a PBA Finals series without a little tension is not fit to be called as such.
And Devance was front and center when San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra got into each other’s faces in Game 2 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen were holding a big 119-99 lead 5:05 left in the game when Devance and Chris Ross got into a verbal tussle.
Devance went off scot-free while Ross, already holding one technical foul for a previous violation, got sent off.
“I’m not sure what happened, he was yelling at me so I yelled at him back,” said Devance after the Gin Kings’ 134-109 loss as the Beermen tied the series at 1-1. “I’m not sure what he was mad about, but you know it’s just part of the game. It’s alright and it’s nothing serious.”
“It’s the finals, if you don’t have any emotions you don’t deserve to be here. That’s just a part of it.”
As for the larger scale of things, Devance said they weren’t expecting the Beermen’s volatile offense and frenetic defense and that threw the Gin Kings off guard.
San Miguel forced Ginebra to commit 19 turnovers, nine of which were off steals that led to easy points for Beermen, who shot 51-of-87 (58%) from the floor.
Ginebra was at the mercy of San Miguel’s torrid shooting that saw five players score at least 20 points.
Alex Cabagnot led all scorers with a career-high 33 points while four-time MVP June Mar Fajardo had 25 points.
Renaldo Balkman, Christian Standhardinger, and Marcio Lassiter had 20 points apiece.
“They just came out, they’re physical, they’re aggressive,” said Devance, who had 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists. “They kind of threw us far from our rhythm, but we’ll be better prepared next game.”