It’s Ginebra vs Bay Area

MANILA, Philippines — It’s the country’s most popular ballclub against the powerful force from Hong Kong in an explosive Christmastime duel for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown.

Barangay Ginebra and Bay Area set a mouthwatering Last Dance after finishing off their respective semifinal opponents in contrasting fashion in a pair of Game 4s last night at the MOA Arena.

Led by the inspired performances of Justin Brownlee, LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson, the Gin Kings delivered the final blow on Magnolia, 99-84, to grab the first ticket.

Taking the cue, the Dragons took care of business in the nightcap and eliminated holder San Miguel Beer, 94-92.

The two finalists hit the court on Christmas Day to start a high-powered best-of-seven title confrontation that’s tipped to be a dogfight of big proportion.

“Excited to be in the final,” said Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian, who’s pitted against the league’s winningest mentor, Ginebra’s Tim Cone.

“Nothing but respect for Tim Cone, they dominated the semifinals, they dominated the quarterfinals, they dominated the final stretch of the season, they dominated us the first time they played us (111-93). So I’m hoping we got better,” he added.

The Dragons banked on clutch triples from Kobey Lam and Andrew Nicholson to seize a 94-90 cushion against the Beermen, whose late fightback fizzled out, no thanks to four missed free throws in the stretch.

Nicholson, with 42 points and 21 rebounds, and Lam, with 26 laced by six treys, showed the way as Bay Area stayed on course to become the first foreign squad to win a PBA title since Nicholas Stoodley in 1980.

The Gin Kings are now in their fourth finals appearance in the last five conferences, a run highlighted by two of their Governors’ Cup triumphs with Brownlee and their success at the Philippine Cup bubble in Clark.

As intended, the Gin Kings treated Game 4 like a must-win as they went for the kill against the dangerous Hotshots.

“I’m so thankful we don’t have to play a Game 5 against this team,” said Cone.

“We talked about it: Just say no to Game 5. We had to put all our eggs in one basket in this game and we did,” These guys didn’t leave anything, they didn’t look beyond this game.”

The Gin Kings set the tone with an 11-0 salvo in the first to break out of a 15-15 stalemate and grab their first double-digit spread.

They sustained the charge the rest of the way and went on to lead by as many as 24 at 71-47 en route to the semis clincher.