Kings get another shot at a title, with Brownlee again leading the way

RJ Abarrientos (with ball) soars to the hoop. —MARLO CUETO

ANTIPOLO—When Barangay Ginebra eliminated Rain or Shine on Sunday, it marked the ninth time the franchise reached a PBA Finals in 12 tournaments with Justin Brownlee as import.

But with the Gin Kings caught in the middle of a title drought, there is a new king of hunger for Brownlee as he and his teammates try to turn the Commissioner’s Cup into a celebration for their legions of fans.

“Hungry? Man, you hear my stomach growling?” Brownlee said in jest when asked by the Inquirer about his bid for a seventh PBA title, a record for imports, following Ginebra’s 118-107 win over Rain or Shine at the Ynares Center here.

Ginebra won the series, 4-2, before a crowd of more than 11,000, with Brownlee going off for 31 points plus 15 rebounds and five assists and RJ Abarrientos unloading 30 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

The Gin Kings became the first team to reach the championship round of the midseason conference and will face either the TNT Tropang 5G or the Meralco Bolts in a best-of-seven affair.

Cementing BPC case

It will be the seventh consecutive conference that Ginebra will play for the title with Brownlee as reinforcement. But the last three times have been a frustration since the beloved franchise ruled the 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup.

They fell short in all of those Finals to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and TNT, including last season’s version of the second conference, following a thrilling Game 7 that went to overtime.

“I think as a team, we really believe that it’s our time,” he said. “Being here before and having lost the last three times, we think it’s our time and we think we can get that hump and get a championship.”

To achieve that, Brownlee will need a lot of support from a number of guys, primarily Abarrientos, whose last two games may have cemented his case as the Best Player of the Conference.

Game 6, however, wasn’t about just Brownlee and Abarrientos. Scottie Thompson came up with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists; Ralph Cu was again solid off the bench, knocking in 11 points, while Isaac Go provided quality minutes, finishing with nine points.

Sigh of relief

Coach Tim Cone could only heave a sigh of relief that Ginebra was able to close out a determined Rain or Shine side that stayed within striking distance throughout the contest, responding with timely shots and key stops.

“We don’t want to go to a Game 7 against a Yeng Guiao team. That would have been a disaster for us,” Cone said. “So we put all our eggs into one basket tonight because we don’t want a Game 7.”

While Ginebra advances, Rain or Shine was dealt with another semifinal exit, the fifth in the last six conferences.

It was the closest the Elasto Painters had at ending the skid after winning Game 1 and tying the series at 2-2. Being close, however, was not enough. INQ