JUSTIN Brownlee continued to prove his anomalous shooting woes are long gone after sustaining his solid showing to lead Barangay Ginebra in eliminating Magnolia, 99-84, on Wednesday to reach the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
Held to just seven shots and 11 points – the second-lowest output in his PBA career – in Game One, the resident Gin Kings import went on to average 36 points in the next two games of the semifinals to show how he has solved the Chicken Timplados’ defensive puzzle.
Brownlee then stuffed the stat sheet with 24 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 14 boards, six assists, five blocks, two steals, and only one turnover in over 41 minutes of play in Game Four to close out Magnolia.
Justin Brownlee on making finals return
“We put a lot of hard work in,” Brownlee said. “And as proven in the past, if we put the hard work in and we focus, and listen to what coach Tim’s got to say, then the chances of this outcome as far as making the finals is going to be pretty high."
Brownlee had plenty of help, including from Japeth Aguilar, who shone after the early ejection of Christian Standhardinger.
Relegated to a Sixth Man role, Aguilar displayed his vintage form as he put up 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 34 minutes off the bench.
“That’s what we expect from Japeth,” Brownlee said. “He’s been a great player in this league for a long time now, ever since I was here.”
“He’s always shown that he’s dependable, always plays really well in big games,” he added. “Then he really had to step up with Christian going down even though his minutes were going to go up. Just got to give him a lot of credit. That’s a lot of pressure on him to be able to go in and play big minutes and do a great job.”
The collective effort has allowed Brownlee to be back in familiar finals territory – and his third Christmas Day game.
“It feels good every time. Definitely doesn’t get old, the feeling,” said the reinforcement who’s nearly a naturalized Filipino.
“It just feels lucky and feel blessed, but definitely not satisfied,” he was quick to add.
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