BARANGAY Ginebra shoots for a 2-0 lead in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals when it faces Bay Area on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Game Two is at 5:45 p.m.
See Goorjian vows Bay Area Dragons will 'hit back' in Game Two
In a year where they captured the PBA Season 46 Governors' Cup last April, the Gins look to end 2022 with a victory and enter the 2023 with a commanding lead in their best-of-seven finals series.
Ginebra is coming off a 96-81 win over Bay Area in Game One on Christmas Day, limiting the Dragons to their lowest point total in the conference.
Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone is definitely not resting on his laurels as he felt his team got lucky when Bay Area wasn’t making its usual three-point shots, hitting only 30 percent from threes, a far cry from their 39 percent shooting in the San Miguel semifinal series.
“Obviously, (Game One) it doesn’t win us a championship. It doesn’t lose a championship for Bay Area. But the bottom line is we got the first step forward. That was the crucial part. We want to set the tone and I thought we did that,” said Cone.
Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian said they have prepared adjustments for Game Two including how to take the physicality and the officiating in a bid to tie the series.
“We’re going to bring a little bit something on Game Two, fill that stadium. I want to hit back. We want to hit back. We want to do something special so the stage is set, so just fill up that stadium, and make something really special on Wednesday night,” said Goorjian to SPIN.ph on Tuesday.
Goorjian said Bay Area must contain Justin Brownlee, who had 28 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists in the Game One win.
LA Tenorio also had an excellent outing in the series curtain raiser when he nailed 22 points, including key baskets in the second quarter that enabled Ginebra to gain a big gap in the contest.
Andrew Nicholson had 27 points in Game One but it was the lowest output of the Bay Area import this conference. Cone hopes that Ginebra, particularly Christian Standhardinger, will continue to contain Nicholson especially his outside shooting.