ANTIPOLO City – Barangay Ginebra found an instant spark in the backcourt duo of Scottie Thompson and rookie RJ Abarrientos in a 121-92 rout of San Miguel that moved the Kings to the threshold of advancing to the PBA Governors Cup Finals.
Abarrientos poured 28 points and 3 rebounds while former league MVP Thompson added 22, helping the Kings blow away a cold-shooting, error-proned Beermen side in Game 5 before a huge crowd of 10,039 at the Ynares Center.
The Kings regained the lead in the best-of-seven semifinal series, 3-2, and another win in Game 6 on Sunday will have the team making it back to the finals of the season-opening conference.
“He’s our starter off the bench,” said Cone of Abarrientos, the No. 3 overall pick in the last draft who shot 8-of-14 from the field and scored 16 points in the second half when the Kings went full throttle to all but decide the outcome of the match.
Thompson had 18 of his output in the opening quarter to rally the Kings from a 13-point deficit after the Beermen came out of the gate with guns blazing.
With Thompson taking care of offense, and Japeth Aguilar and the ageless Joe Devance anchoring the Ginebra defense, the Kings swiftly turned the game around and were already in front by the time the first 12 minutes was over, 34-33.
“Scottie did a great job of keeping us in the game early and so we were able to kind of settle ourselves down,” said Cone of Thompson.
“There were a lot of worries during the timeout,” Cone added after the Kings sued for a timeout when San Miguel raced to a 33-20 lead. “I think we’re just too pumped up in the beginning and we’re not thinking in the game. But we just kind of turned things around.”
Justine Brownlee had a quiet 18-point, nine-rebound, and seven-assist job for Ginebra, which also got 15 and 13 from Japeth Aguilar and Maverick Ahanmisi, respectively.
The Kings, whose biggest lead was at 121-90, committed just six turnovers – a playoff franchise low – compared to the 19 of the Beermen, which Ginebra translated to a 21-7 edge in points off fastbreaks.
They also shot 54 percent from the field, while San Miguel was good for just 44 percent.
Import EJ Anosike finished with 21 points and along with Marcio Lassiter, powered the Beermen to that fast start in the opening quarter.
Reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo had a double-double of 17 points and 18 boards, and CJ Perez had with 16. Lassiter scored eight of his 16 points in the first quarter.
The scores:
Ginebra (121) - Abarrientos 28, Thompson 22, Brownlee 18, J.Aguilar 15, Ahanmisi 13, Holt 9, Cu 4, Pinto 3, Adamos 2, Devance 2, Pessumal 2, R.Aguilar 2, Mariano 1.
San Miguel (92) - Anosike 21, Fajardo 17, Perez 16, Lassiter 16, Trollano 7, Ross 4, Enciso 4, Cruz 3, Brondial 2, Romeo 2, Nava 0, Tautuaa 0, Rosales 0.
Quarterscores: 34-33; 63-50; 92-79; 121-92.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
