SCOTTIE Thompson and Jamie Malonzo may have put on the finishing touches, but it was Justin Brownlee who anchored Barangay Ginebra’s comeback in its 89-82 win over Bay Area on Wednesday to take a 2-1 lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
Justin Brownlee on Game Three comeback
The resident Gin Kings import scattered 34 points, including 19 in the fourth quarter that matched the Dragons’ entire output in the period to spark the rally from 14 points down in the third quarter.
Brownlee felt Ginebra’s Sixth Man had a lot to do with the classic comeback.
“Being down 14 is not a great situation for us, but the crowd really fueled us,” Brownlee said. “And we’ve been carrying that never-say-die attitude, well, with Ginebra, forever, so we definitely feed off the crowd.”
Brownlee’s 19 points in the fourth is the most in any quarter in the PBA Finals since Jayson Castro’s 19 in the third period of TNT’s 119-97 Game Seven loss to San Miguel in this season’s Philippine Cup last Sept. 4, according to chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
Still, Brownlee bled for his points as he made just nine of his 24 shots for a paltry 37.5-percent clip against the stingy Dragons defense.
“It wasn’t easy,” Brownlee admitted. “It was tough. Gotta give credit to Bay Area. They continue to play great defense on us and challenge us in a lot of different ways.”
“But I just got to give a lot of credit to the team, the effort, for staying there the whole game even though it wasn’t going for us,” he added.
Brownlee complemented his timely scoring with 17 rebounds, four assists, three steals, one block, and only one turnover in a little over 45 minutes of action.
The longtime Ginebra import, though, believes his and the rest of the Ginebra’s offense must keep evolving to keep the Dragons on their toes for the rest of the series.
“I think their defense is the type of defense that if you keep continually playing, they’re going to evolve not only just me, but the whole team,” Brownlee said. “They’re making us, for sure, take our game to another level.”
“I think we’re doing a great job of keep being aggressive and just keep…it’s like a not really a fight, but a tug-of-war battle – you want to be aggressive and you want to attack, but you also got to be smart about it, and try to dissect the defense rather than just attacking,” he added.
And Brownlee would rather see the Dragons show up with a complete team than without counterpart Andrew Nicholson, who went down with a leg injury late in the game.
“I hate to see that, to be honest,” Brownlee said of Nicholson’s injury. “He’s a great guy outside the court – and inside the court as well. He’s a tremendous player. When you compete against somebody and things like that happen, I feel bad. Hopefully it’s not serious. I pray for him and I hope he can come back.”
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