MANILA, Philippines—Justine Brownlee put up another magnificent performance in the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, but the same can’t be said his team Ginebra.
He put a near five-by-five of 31 points—21 in the fourth alone—15 rebounds, seven assists, six steals, and three blocks, but this eye-popping numbers weren’t enough to help the Gin Kings escape Fuel Masters, 111-103, Friday night.
“I got to do a better job moving the ball, getting people involved for sure,” said Brownlee. “I had a lot of turnovers in this game (four), I think we just got to get that rhythm back on offense, especially myself. I got to do a better job getting guys involved.”
As a team, Ginebra scored 22 points in the fourth with the other one courtesy of Stanley Pringle’s technical free throw after Phoenix head coach Louie Alas was ejected with 8:54 remaining.
Brownlee, though, wouldn’t have needed to carry his team on his back in the final quarter if not for Phoenix maddening third quarter.
The Fuel Masters, who trailed the Gin Kings 56-44 at the half, were on fire in the penultimate period and outscored Ginebra 45-25 to take an 89-81 lead heading to the fourth.
“We gave up 40-something points in the third quarter and that’s very unlikely,” said Brownlee. “It’s something that we definitely don’t want to happen. If we want to win moving forward, we got to play defense and that’s when we’re going to win games.”