AS Japeth Aguilar missed a game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer, coach Brian Goorjian rose up from a kneeling position, raised two fists in the air and locked Myles Powell in a warm embrace.
Powered up by the comebacking Powell, the Bay Area Dragons sent the Barangay Ginebra Kings to a deciding Game 7 with an 87-84 escape win before a fantastic crowd of over 22,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.
Once again back from the injured list, Powell played as if not coming from a layoff, providing lots of court smart, spark and firepower as the Dragons once again struck back at the Kings, thus, forging a 3-3 deadlock in the PBA Commissioner's Cup best-of-seven title playoff.
They take one final breather then engage in a no-tomorrow showdown on Sunday at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Sponsored content: Powell, a former Philadelphia Sixer in the NBA, had a big, big hand in this kind of finish in what had turned to be an incredible championship series.
The 6-foot-1 hotshot poured in 29 points in 35 minutes of action off the bench and, with his all-around activity, made his teammates to play better.
He scored all of their last seven points, including two split charities in the dying seconds that made it 87-84.
Sponsored content: As he attracted much attention on defense, the Dragons spread the floor and enjoyed the lead most of the way with a wondrous 17-of-36 three-pointers.
The Kings, on the other hand, bled from deep and eventually lost the game on missed three-pointers.
They went 0-of-7 from the arc in the payoff period, the last from Aguilar at the buzzer.
From a scrambling first half, the Kings came into life and rolled ahead at 62-61 on a 16-point explosion by Justin Brownlee in the third period.
Brownlee went on to collect triple-double numbers with 37 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
But that stats line wasn't enough.
Powell proved unstoppable at the finish, thus, keeping the Dragons' bid alive and preserving his clean record. Bay Area is 9-of-9 with Powell as import.
Hayden Blankley had his own great moments, firing away six triples and a total of 23 markers while Glen Yang and Songwei Zhu added 10 apiece.
Largely behind a torrid shooting from deep, the Dragons dominated the first 24 minutes of play, bringing an eight-point lead over to the final half.
Blankley and Powell scored 14 points each in the first half, highlighted by their combined 6-of-12 triples, with Kobey Lam, Yang and Zhu having their own conversions from the three-point range. (SB)
