ANTIPOLO – Scottie Thompson asserted himself early and that proved to be the spark Ginebra needed in thrashing San Miguel, 121-92, on Friday night to move one win away from returning to the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.
The 2022 MVP dropped 18 of his 22 points in the first quarter, leading a 14-0 run to erase a 13-point deficit and take a slim 34-33 lead for the Kings to garner enough momentum to seize control of the game come the next frame.
And that scorching-hot start seemingly rubbed off on his teammates, so much so that the coaches afforded the luxury of giving Justin Brownlee rest in the fourth quarter after dropping 49 back in Game 4 albeit in a losing cause.
“I don’t know what we would’ve done without Scottie in that first quarter,” said Coach Tim Cone. “They were coming down hitting every shot, and then Scottie would come down and make some kind of impossible shot.
“Or, impossible rebound. Whatever it took to stay in the game, Scottie would do it,” he added. “That’s Scottie’s M.O. for his whole career, that’s why he’s so valuable for us in Ginebra, why he’s so valuable for Gilas as well.”
Brownlee didn’t need to do much scoring-wise this time as he finished with only 18 points alongside nine rebounds and seven assists and that’s because the locals stepped up big, proving that the Barangay are no one-man show.
Leading not only Ginebra but all scorers as well was RJ Abarrientos, as he fired a conference-high 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor.
The young playmaker scored nine in the second period, helping JB and Japeth Aguilar in giving the crowd darlings a 63-50 advantage at the break.
Abarrientos then scored 16 in the second half as he kick-started the breakaway when the opposition got to within a point, 67-68, in the third by nailing one of his three triples to open up a scoring barrage for an 89-75 lead late in the canto.
Aguilar made 15 points while Maverick Ahanmisi added 13 for the Kings, who finished with 31 assists against only six turnovers, which equals 11th all-time low by any team according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
“That’s really, really good,” expressed Cone of their assist total. “It’s not something you’re gonna do every night … Can we follow it up? That’s the big question. It’s really hard to follow it up against a team like San Miguel.”
As sharp as they were offensively, defense also played a big factor for Ginebra in the win, as evidenced with how they limited San Miguel.
EJ Anosike only had 21 points and six rebounds. Game 4 hero June Mar Fajardo scored just 17 points on 11 attempts but had 18 rebounds, a bit far from the form he showed the last time out where he finished with 26 and 19.
CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter added 16 apiece for the Beermen, who lost Jericho Cruz at the 9:32-mark of the fourth due to an apparent ankle injury, casting a cloud of uncertainty over the team heading into Game 6 on Sunday.
The crucial match is set at 7:30 p.m. at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, with both teams of course hoping to see another solid turnout after a total of 10,039 trooped to the Ynares Center here to watch the rivalry affair live.
The Scores:
Ginebra 121 – Abarrientos 28, Thompson 22, Brownlee 18, J.Aguilar 15, Ahanmisi 13, Holt 9, Cu 4, Pinto 3, Adamos 2, Devance 2, Pessumal 2, R.Aguilar 2, Mariano 1.
San Miguel 92 – Anosike 21, Fajardo 17, Perez 16, Lassiter 16, Trollano 7, Ross 4, Enciso 4, Cruz 3, Brondial 2, Romeo 2, Nava 0, Tautuaa 0, Rosales 0.
Quarterscores: 34-33, 63-50, 92-79, 121-92.
