Justin Brownlee admitted that pressure got the best of him after failing to complete the free throws that may have influenced the outcome of Ginebra’s eventual loss to NorthPort in a PBA Commissioner’s Cup thriller Wednesday.
The three-time Best Import, a proven guy in the clutch, only made two of what could have been the three game-tying bonuses with 8.9 seconds left.
He earned the free throws after successfully baiting William Navarro for a foul from the first arc.
“Yep, that’s a lot of pressure, you know, to make those shots,” he said moments after the 119-116 loss at the Philsports Arena in Pasig. “I wish I could have. I was locked in and I thought I could do it, but that last one just barely rolled out.”
Brownlee committed two uncharacteristic mistakes in crunch time, the other being arguably the costliest one with 2.3 ticks to go.
After hauling down the missed freebie of Joshua Munzon, he brought the ball down and tried to attack the rim for the potential game-tying basket – only to slip and lose the ball, giving NorthPort the possession back.
Kadeem Jack would go on to seal the deal with a split with only 1.3 seconds remaining, purposely missing his second free throw to let time expire.
The 36-year-old winger could only wonder what happened in that possession if it was brought about by a wet spot on the court or a sneaker problem.
“I don’t know. I just tried it. I saw the opening where I thought I could take, and unfortunately… I don’t know if it was a wet spot or maybe my shoes or whatever, but it just felt like my feet just came from under me,” he explained.
Brownlee, though, refuses to dwell on that sloppy endgame – and on what was a tough outing for him overall.
He tallied 23 points on a poor 6-of-22 shooting clip from the floor and committed eight of the team’s 22 turnovers.
Instead, Brownlee gave credit to the Batang Pier, who finally laid to rest a five-year, 14-game losing skid against the perennial contenders with the escape.
“Things like that happen, you know, all the time throughout the game. So, I can’t dwell on it. You know, it is what it is at this point,” JB said. “Can’t do anything about it now. But just give a lot of credit to NorthPort.
“They really deserved this win,” added the six-time champion, whose Ginebra fell to 5-3.
“They played great, led by their import – the import and Arvin, and Munzon, they had a great night tonight, so give a lot of credit to them.”
