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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Brownlee, Ginebra don't mind winning 'ugly'

Brownlee, Ginebra don't mind winning 'ugly'

Published Mar 17, 2025 04:16 am

At A Glance

  • A win is a win regardless of how it was done. And if making the win ugly meant tying the series and avoiding a 0-2 deficit in the Finals series, Justin Brownlee and the rest of the Kings would gladly take it.

A win is a win regardless of how it was done. And if making the win ugly meant tying the series and avoiding a 0-2 deficit in the Finals series, Justin Brownlee and the rest of the Kings would gladly take it.

PBA Images1 (96).jpg
 

“I think in this series, coach (Tim Cone) has been, since the start of it, saying it's going to be a defensive series. Some games, we're just going to have to win ugly, and I think that was a perfect example tonight,” said Brownlee after pulling off a grindout 71-70 escape to level the series at 1-1 in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup Finals.

The game was far from what it was in the series opener where both squads traded hits one after another. It was a defensive duel this time, with both teams bleeding for every point.

A testament to that was Ginebra’s defensive efforts against TNT, which it limited to just five points in the second frame – the lowest points scored by a team in the Finals history.

“Low-scoring game. What? 71-70? So I think if we want to continue having success in this series, I think it's going to be very important we use all our effort we can on defense and just try to, I guess, make the game ugly,” he added.

With the team focused on pouring all of its energy on the defensive end, Brownlee, for his part, took it upon himself to carry the scoring load for the Kings.

He poured 35 points – nearly half of his team’s total output, while also collaring 11 rebounds and defending Rondae Hollis-Jefferson from time to time.

He also scored the team’s last four points before Scottie Thompson, Stephen Holt and Jamie Malonzo all connived in swarming Hollis-Jefferson and foiling his last two attempts to seal the win.

“These guys just showed true grit all the way through the game, and we knew that we were going to have a chance in this series,” Cone commented.

“We were going to have to show that character and that true grit, and just really reach deep to make two stops down the stretch that were really incredible stops, and that's just the way we're going to have to play to have a chance in this series,” the veteran coach added.

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