Barangay Ginebra may just be trailing by 2-1 in the best-of-seven PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals against defending champion San Miguel, things are not looking good for the crowd favorite.
After their strong opening win, the Gin Kings haven’t looked like conquerors in their past two games losing to the Beermen by an average of 31.5 points.
It was only in the first game that Ginebra looked like a title contender when it beat the Beermen 127-99, and Justin Brownlee hopes his team could once again channel that fighting spirit by Game 4.
READ: PBA Finals: San Miguel clobbers Ginebra by 38 points for 2-1 lead
“You only have to come out and fight, that’s the only thing you can do,” said Brownlee after Ginebra’s 132-94 loss in Game 3 Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
That staggering setback to San Miguel tied the PBA record for largest blowout in a championship game, a feat that stood for two decades since Alaska trumped the Beermen 99-61 in Game 6 of the 1998 Philippine Cup finals.
Brownlee, who finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds, though, is still counting on his team’s fighting spirit.
“Hopefully we can bounce back after this game and we’ll be better,” said Brownlee, who couldn’t help but praise what the Beermen did in Game 3.
San Miguel was intoxicating in the third game shooting at a 51.5 percent clip, 52-of-101, while also smothering Ginebra on defense.
The Beermen limited the Gin Kings to 35-of-74 from the field and stole the ball 15 times.
“You got to give a lot of credit to San Miguel, they came out and played tough, and they were really focused,” said Brownlee who carried Ginebra on his back in Game 3. “They were very sharp, they came out shooting the ball well, they were executing and they were defending.”