Averting disaster

Winning the Best Import award isn’t a priority in Barangay Ginebra import Justin Brownlee’s scheme of things. For sure, it’s a prestigious honor and he’s bagged three so far in his storybook PBA career. What’s more important for Brownlee is bringing a championship to his team, something he’s done in the SEA Games, Asian Games, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, ABL and PBA. Individual accolades are personal but his six PBA titles go beyond himself and for Brownlee, that’s the priority.

So when TNT’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson claimed his second Best Import award before Game Four of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Sunday, it wasn’t a big deal to lose out for Brownlee. He’s still one up over RHJ in the Best Import race and five up in PBA championships. For RHJ, his mission is to take TNT to another title. He did it first in the previous Governors’ Cup at Brownlee’s expense. Now, RHJ has a chance for two in a row, at the same time, paying back Brownlee for the spanking he took in the Asian Games final last year.

In Game Four, Ginebra averted disaster and played with a high sense of urgency. A loss would’ve put Ginebra in a precarious 1-3 hole with the throbbing pressure of beating TNT three in a row to win the trophy. Brownlee set the tone from the start, firing 15 points in the first period. At the half, he had 18, his total output in Game Three. The key was to start strong and set TNT back in its heels.

Ginebra had a hiccup in the third quarter, giving up 35 points and 17 free throws after holding TNT to 17 points in the second. But in the fourth, coach Tim Cone’s defensive orientation held sway, limiting TNT to 15 points and not allowing a single free throw. Clearly, Ginebra wanted it more, dominating the hustle stats with more steals, 8-4, more second chance points, 15-4, and more bench points, 24-17. Defensively, Ginebra held TNT to only six transition points, down from its Finals average of 14. JP Erram and Glenn Khobuntin combined for only three points, a far cry from their average of 17.6. On the offensive end, Brownlee erupted for 34 points as Japeth Aguilar, Mav Ahanmisi and Stephen Holt delivered 18 each in a rare display of firepower. Ginebra won, 106-92, and went way over its Finals clip of 85.7. With the series knotted, expect Ginebra and TNT to pull out all the stops in securing the pivotal win in Game Five tomorrow for the head start in what has dwindled to a best-of-three affair.