By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel couldn’t ask for a better ending after putting on a basketball clinic against the Bay Area Dragons, 114-99, in Game 7 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup grand finals last January 15, 2023, held at the Philippine Arena.
With the win, the Gin Kings are again champions of the import-laced conference led by newly-turned Filipino citizen Justin Brownlee who dropped 34 points, 12 assists, and eight rebounds.
It was a wire-to-wire victory for Ginebra after immediately establishing a double-digit lead in the first quarter courtesy of Christian Standhardinger’s solid play in the shaded lane.
The bruising big man beat Bay Area in the fast break and scored four early points in their run-and-gun attack.
Brownlee then continued Standhardinger’s explosion after burying back-to-back wide-open three-pointers that helped swell Ginebra’s lead to 13 points, 25-12.
However, Bay Area refused to let things slip away as super import Myles Powell injected some life into the foreign guest team and quickly helped them get back into the ball game.
Powell’s shot-making and pick-and-roll assists trimmed Ginebra’s lead to just six points, 27-21, heading into the second quarter.
Despite Powell changing the complexion of the game just like Game 6, the Gin Kings were unfazed and stepped on the gas pedal to balloon their lead back to double digits off Scottie Thompson’s hustle plays and Japeth Aguilar’s scoring efficiency.
From a six-point lead, Ginebra suddenly extended their cushion to 22 points at the end of the half, 61-39, after an Aguilar power slam off an LA Tenorio miss.
It was then all Ginebra in the second half after their balanced attack doomed Bay Area’s defensive schemes.
One of the biggest stories of Game 7 was also Ginebra’s perfect execution of the hand-off play that became the key to their shooting percentage in the fiery second quarter.
Jamie Malonzo became Ginebra’s second-best scorer in the game after chipping in 22 points and 17 rebounds while reigning PBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Thompson filled the stat sheets with 18 points and nine rebounds.
