JUSTIN Brownlee was uncharacteristically shaky down the stretch of Barangay Ginebra's loss to San Miguel on Sunday in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner's Cup.
Brownlee missed one in each of his two trips to the free-throw line inside the final one-and-a-half minutes of the Gins' 85-82 loss. He also hit nothing but air on his three-point attempt with the score tied at 82-all and with 37.3 seconds left in the clock, allowing San Miguel to steal the win on a Don Trollano three with 8.3 seconds left.
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SMB coach Leo Austria was relieved that Brownlee was un-Brownlee-like on this night.
“God is on our side. Medyo nag-miss si Brownlee sa free throw and we were able to capitalize on that,” said Austria during the postgame conference.
Brownlee still had 31 points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks, but he was the first to admit that the missed free throws stung.
“We lost by three points and I missed three crucial free throws,” said Brownlee. “I'm a little upset about that and I feel down that I let my teammates down in those moments.”
There's plenty of blame to pass around. As a team, Ginebra missed six of its 15 free throws, with Isaac Go going 0-of-2, and Troy Rosario 1-of-2.
But Brownlee is looking to fix things.
“We just have to bounce back, make sure we hit our free throws as a team, including myself. Hopefully, next time, we get back to practice, we'll work on those free throws, and next time, we can convert them,” said Brownlee.
The loss was Ginebra's second in four outings, with the other defeat coming at the hands of NLEX, proving that victories will have to be earned this conference.
“We lost to two good teams. NLEX, they've proven that they are a good team this conference, and they probably more than likely going to beat a lot of teams. So is San Miguel. I guess it's a good thing we got them early but it's a tough game tonight.
"Give a lot of credit to San Miguel. They did well, you can tell that they've been here in this situation many times,” said Brownlee.
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