The Barangay Ginebra Kings came out and played as the higher-seeded team as they are, clobbering the NorthPort Batang Pier, 118-102, in Game 1 of their PBA Commissioner's Cup best-of-three showdown at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig Wednesday night.
Justin Brownlee showed up in his usual self as a playoff performer, turning in 39 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the front man of a Ginebra show that send the Kings within a win of the Final Four.
But Brownlee insisted it's about the whole team pulling a solid effort together.
"We pride ourselves playing together. We did a good job pulling a good team effort," said Brownlee as validated by their 33 assists compared with NorthPort's 21.
And there's Ginebra's 43 bench points as against NorthPort's 26.
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Coach Tim Cone said these numbers are kind of things that they look forward to.
"It's how much we're sharing the ball. That's what we always try to do," said Cone, pleased with their showing leading to a crucial head start in the race-to-two-games series.
The Kings, the third seed, take their first shot at wrapping up the short series on Saturday in the same venue.
The Ginebra win was marked by Tenorio hitting a new milestone with his four triples, dislodging Ronnie Magsanoc (1,171) from fourth overall in the all-time list with his 1,174 total makes. The PBA's Iron Man is also on track to surging ahead of No. 3 James Yap (1,178).
Brownlee went 16-of-24 from the field, 5-of-8 from the arc, in a superb job well complemented by Stanley Pringle, Jamie Malonzo, LA Tenorio and Scottie Thompson who tossed in double-digit outputs.
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Pringle and Malonzo combined for 29 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists off the bench while Tenorio and Thompson put in 23 markers, seven boards and 10 dish-offs as steady starting backcourt partners.
But the Kings needed patience as they could only put some distance on a 33-24 exchange in the third period.
Opening an 89-74 spread at the end of the third, the Kings kept on going and went on to negate Arvin Tolentino's 29-point explosion along with Robert Bolick's 21-point outing.
Prince Ibeh was good for 18 markers and 15 boards in 43 minutes of action. (SB)
The Scores:
Ginebra 118 - Brownlee 39, Pringle 16, Malonzo 13, Tenorio 12, Thompson 11, Gray 9, J.Aguilar 7, Mariano 6, Standhardinger 5.
NorthPort 102 - Tolentino 29, Bolick 21, Ibeh 18, Ferrer 15, Sumang 9, Navarro 8, Ayaay 2, Chan 0, Calma 0, Balanza 0.
Quarters: 29-24, 56-50, 89-74, 118-102.
