Manhandled in Game 1, Bay Area toughened up and struck back at Barangay Ginebra Wednesday night.
The Dragons found their rhythm and played smoothly all game long, leveling up with the Gin Kings at a game apiece following a vengeful 99-82 win before a crowd of over 16,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
They now take a six-day breather before resuming their PBA Commissioner's Cup best-of-seven title confrontation on Jan. 4 back at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.
Scuttled was Ginebra's bid to tuck in a two-nil series lead going to the 2023 play.
Also blasted was the Kings' hope to make it 3-0 over the guest team in the whole tourney.
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Andrew Nicholson, Songwei Zhu, Hayden Blankley and Kobey Lam led the Bay Area fightback from their 96-81 Game 1 loss as they combined for 10 three-pointers and a total of 83 points.
For the Dragons, the big key was staying locked-in and playing their game amid the noise from the Ginebra die-hards.
Coach Brian Goorjian also mentioned their right adjustments, allowing them to get the rebounds and take control of the game.
"Tonight, we defended without fouling. We adjusted on the PBA rules, and we have to stay that way moving forward," said Goorjian.
Taking care of business, the Dragons seized control right in the second quarter and kept the Kings at bay through the second half.
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Nicholson got himself free from the Ginebra shackles and top scored for the Dragons with 30 points that went with 15 rebounds.
Zhu poured in 17 in the first half and finished with 25 while Blankley and Lam chipped in 17 and 11, respectively.
"We just wanted to stay locked-in and we executed what we practiced," said Zhou, through an interpreter.
The Kings actually came to within seven, trimming a 52-35 halftime deficit, but the Dragons stayed intact and pulled away again in the fourth quarter.
Justin Brownlee tried to take the cudgels for the Kings, but could only do so much, firing away 32 markers plus 11 boards.
In a swashbuckling start, Zhu knocked in six of 10 field-goal attempts (2-of-5 from deep) to lead Bay Area's first-half juggernaut also marked by 6-of-13 clip from Nicholson.
Just the two of them nearly outscored the entire Ginebra team (31-35) which struggled with 37-percent shooting as against the Dragons' 51 percent in the first 24 minutes of play.
Blankey, who was 0-of-9 from the arc in Game 1, beat the buzzer with a booming trey to close the first half.
And the Dragons kept firing through the last two quarters. (SB)
