CHRIS McCullough felt like he didn’t get a fair shake when it came to officiating in TNT’s 88-76 loss to Barangay Ginebra in Game 7 of the classic PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The prolific reinforcement was called for his fourth foul at the 6:00 mark of the third quarter on an offensive foul on RJ Abarrientos, forcing TNT coach Chot Reyes to take him out of the ballgame.
READ Chot believes McCullough foul trouble the turning point of Game 7
From up three points, Ginebra would wrest control of the game with him on the bench and the crowd darlings were already up, 68-63, with 51 seconds left in the third when McCullough was brought back.
He’d then get his fifth foul less than a minute into the fourth – forcing him to play conservatively the rest of the way.
“I don’t know. I felt like there were a lot of bad calls but it is what it is. Congrats to the other team for winning. I felt like I played my heart out but that’s it,” McCullough said after finishing with 28 points and 22 rebounds in the loss.
“It’s very frustrating. We had the lead in the third quarter when it happened. Then I got my fourth or fifth foul so they made a run and then they did what they had to do.”
Despite the loss, McCullough still walked out of the Mall of Asia Arena with his head held high after staring down who many believe is the greatest import of all time in Justin Brownlee in the face and almost coming away with the win.
McCullough had massive scoring nights dueling with Brownlee this series – starting in Game 3 when he had 44 to Brownlee’s 41 in Ginebra’s 116-102 win and of course the unforgettable Game 6 where he put up 53 points to overshadow Brownlee’s 52 and force a deciding Game 7.
‘C-Mac’ promised a classic series against Brownlee, and he certainly delivered.
“Like I said before we started this series, it was going to be one of them [great] series. Even though I lost, this series will forever be talked about. Hopefully I get back with them sooner than later,” he said.
“I wasn’t trying to prove anything. I was trying to show everybody that I still could play at a high level and I showed that on the court. That’s it.”
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