Justin Brownlee was all praises for James Dickey III as the close pals finally faced off when Barangay Ginebra and Phoenix locked horns on Sunday night.
The Kings did come out victorious, but the three-time Best Import gave credit to his Fuel Masters counterpart for the challenge he gave not only to him but also to the crowd darlings, who had to dig deep to eventually net the 120-101 result.
“He’s tough,” he said shortly after the match at the SMART Araneta Coliseum for their first winning streak in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup.
Dickey was in his element in the marquee matchup as the lanky forward out of UNC Greensboro nearly finished with a triple-double to lead his side.
The 29-year-old registered 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting alongside 21 rebounds and nine assists, although he accounted for half of Phoenix’s 14 turnovers.
“He was such a mismatch for us,” offered head coach Tim Cone.
“He really gave our big guys a hard time with his quickness and his ability to attack from the perimeter. That’s why we had to go small for most of the second half.”
(C) PBA Images
That adjustment worked, and ‘JB’ himself would have the last laugh. The 37-year-old finished with 30 points, 21 of which he made in the second half as he powered their fourth-quarter assault to turn the game around in their favor.
Brownlee shot 44.4 percent from the floor and also finished with nine rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block–all without committing a turnover.
Still, he admitted that it wasn’t easy going up against his former Pelita Jaya Basketball teammate simply because of how they treat one another.
“He’s a great person, a great guy off the court. I think everybody knows that I played with him in Indonesia. He’s a great teammate,” said Brownlee as he and Dickey led the Indonesian club to the Basketball Champions League Asia 2024.
But then, both of them are aware that it’s all business once they set foot on the hardwood, leading to an interesting matchup between the two.
“It’s always hard going against a friend, or a ‘pare,'” Brownlee said with a chuckle, drawing some good old ribbing from none other than Cone.
“But when you get in on the court, you just gotta go at it, and he went at it. I tried to go at him as hard as I could without showing that friendship,” the six-time champion added. “But it was great. I think it was very fun and competitive.”
#WATCH: I WISH I WOULD HAVE GUARDED HIM MORE 🏀
James Dickey enjoyed every moment of facing his good friend Justin Brownlee#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/xKJXYGKjJG
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA50 pic.twitter.com/IrmAhqovSK
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) April 12, 2026
