ANTIPOLO – Not even a hand injury could slow down Justin Brownlee as he fought through the pain and willed Ginebra to a 95-78 victory over TNT to once again tie the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup Finals, Friday night.
A game-time decision due to the dislocated thumb he suffered back in Game 2, the 36-year-old went on to finish with 23 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists, helping the Kings pull away late to send the series at two games apiece.
And he did all that even with his right hand taped up as the team’s medical staff did their best to make sure that the injured finger stayed intact.
“I thought he was out for the series, frankly. We even brought in Ange Kouame if he could replace Justin, but then Justin said, ‘I think I can play,'” said head coach Tim Cone as he admitted to searching for a potential replacement.
“And so you gotta give Arcee [Cua] and the training group a huge thank you because they got him in a position where they can put tape in and secure that thumb. But I still didn’t think he was gonna play,” he added.
(C) PBA Images
Brownlee did play and that heroic act of his inspired the whole Barangay to deliver and level the playing field with their rivals.
Jamie Malonzo, for one, came alive and delivered a team-high 24 points on a 6-of-8 clip from three-point distance for his best game of the series to date.
The athletic winger was crucial in crunch time, helping send opposing big man Poy Erram out of the game due to fouls before nailing both of his free throws to push their lead to 80-76 with 6:47 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Those shots of his from the stripe would prove to be the spark that ignited Ginebra’s breakaway. Japeth Aguilar and Brownlee pulled off and nailed tough shots under duress as both of those came with the shot clock winding down.
Malonzo himself would have that same moment when he sank a triple afterward, before Maverick Ahanmisi drained a layup as the Kings strung together an 11-0 run toward the 89-76 advantage with 2:31 left.
Rey Nambatac would stop the bleeding shortly after but there was no stopping the crowd darlings anymore, with Ahanmisi and Malonzo applying the finishing touches for a strong finish after falling down the stretch in Game 3.
Aguilar finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, while two-way guy Stephen Holt got going on offense and chipped in 12 points and five rebounds.
“Obviously the focus is on Justin, but we played a really good team game tonight as well,” said Cone. “Jamie stepped up, made some huge, huge shots for us. He and Stephen did a great job defending RHJ tonight.
“We played a really good defensive game and we got our offense going a little bit. Hopefully, we can continue that into the next game,” he added.
(C) PBA Images
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson found himself limited by the Ginebra defense as he only finished with 14 points on 18 shots, including 0-for-4 from three.
Still, he collected 12 rebounds, five assists, and a block against two turnovers in the defeat that spoiled his Best Import coronation earlier in the night.
Top-scoring for the Tropang Giga instead was Calvin Oftana with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor, alongside five rebounds and four assists.
Roger Pogoy backed him up with 16 points. Nambatac added 13 markers as he couldn’t replicate his Game 3 outing where he dropped 24, including the tie-breaking three that eventually led to the 87-85 victory.
The best-of-7 title series heads back to the SMART Araneta Coliseum for the pivotal Game 5 on Sunday, March 23, still at 7:30 PM.
The Scores:
Ginebra 95 – Malonzo 24, Brownlee 23, J.Aguilar 18, Holt 12, Thompson 9, Ahanmisi 7, Abarrientos 2, Cu 0, Mariano 0, Pinto 0, Rosario 0.
TNT 78 – Oftana 17, Pogoy 16, Hollis-Jefferson 14, Nambatac 13, Williams 9, Erram 9, Aurin 0, Khobuntin 0, Razon 0, Heruela 0, Ebona 0.
Quarterscores: 31-21, 53-49, 72-66, 95-78.
#WATCH: Tim Cone couldn’t help but be in awe of Justin Brownlee’s toughness, playing through pain in the ongoing #PBA2025 Finals 🏀
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/QN8dRSHojx
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) March 21, 2025
