PBA Finals: Myles Powell revved up for ‘first real Game 7’ vs Ginebra

Bay Area Dragons guard Myles Powell during Game 6 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals against Barangay Ginebra. PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—Like everyone who is part of the Bay Area Dragons, Myles Powell said playing a Game 7 for the first time will be an experience like no other.

The 6-foot-2 guard, who returned to help the Dragons beat Barangay Ginebra and force a decider for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown, is looking forward to what he and the Dragons will deal on Sunday before an expected big crowd at Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

“Like [Bay Area] coach [Brian Goorjian] said, this will be my first real Game 7 when I’m playing [and] I’m on the floor in front of 50,000 people,” Powell said. “So I’m looking forward to it, and we’ll be ready.”

Powell never got a chance to play in a facility that’s as big as the Philippine Arena when he played for Seton Hall in the US NCAA.

But Powell got a glimpse of what a long playoff series looked like when he was with the Philadelphia 76ers last year.

He didn’t see action for the 76ers in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, but was on the sidelines when they faced the Toronto Raptors in their first round Eastern Conference series.

Philadelphia won the series in six games, but was later eliminated by Miami in the East semis.

“When I was with the Sixers, we went to Game 6 with the Raptors,” he recalled. “I didn’t get to play, but I was part of it, I got to experience it.”

Powell’s 29 points denied Ginebra’s first crack at finishing the series despite having not played since November due to an injured foot. Goorjian initially said that Powell was done, but it was the latter who asked his coach if he can be back on the active roster with Bay Area on the brink.

“Win, lose or draw, I wanted to be out there,” Powell said. “I didn’t really know what I was gonna do out there [in Game 6], but like coach said, my spirit was there.

“I had my brothers’ back, and I just put it in God’s hands, and we came out on top. And now we got one more. Job’s not finished.”

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