JUSTIN Brownlee offered no excuses after Barangay Ginebra’s 101-77 blowout loss to Meralco in Sunday’s PBA Governors Cup.
The Kings’ resident import acknowledged the Bolts came ready to play and it showed in the way they took the fight out of them early at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Just give a lot of credit to Meralco. They got really good defense. They played us very tough tonight and the score definitely showed,” he said.
“We could play better but we just have to give a lot of credit to Meralco.”
Brownlee was held to just 18 points, seven rebounds, and three assists after averaging 28 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists in seven games prior to meeting the Bolts.
Overall, the Kings struggled to find the mark and hit at a 38 percent clip from the floor on 30-of-79 shooting.
In contrast, Brownlee’s Meralco rival Allen Durham was a monster on both ends, producing a near triple-double of 39 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists.
“He played incredible,” Brownlee said of Durham, a two-time Governors Cup Best Import. “He scored a lot of points, rebounded, set up his teammates very well. He played great.”
The loss snapped Ginebra’s four-game winning streak that left it tied with San Miguel for fourth to fifth places with identical 5-3 records.
Brownlee didn’t rule out the likelihood of the Kings getting a bit complacent following the winning run which saw them beat San Miguel and reigning champion Magnolia.
“I guess you could call it that. Sometimes you get overconfident and tend to relax when you have a winning streak,” he said.
But again he’s not taking everything away from Meralco.
“They played a very tough game and came out playing very well,” he stressed.
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