DEFENDING champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Meralco go for all the marbles in a no-tomorrow Game Seven that has transformed the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup championship series as one of the classics and hardly fought in league history.
And to make it more dramatic, more than 50,000 fans are expected to troop to the cavernous Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan, for the final confrontation between the defending champion Gin Kings and resilient Bolts that kicks off at 7 p.m.
The Bolts methodically clinched Game Six, 98-91, last Wednesday night to tie the series at 3-3 in front of a crowd of 53,642.
“We just want to get it done, that’s for sure. We just hope that it’s us who gets lucky,” Meralco Head Coach Norman Black said.
Best Import Allen Durham was a monster of a reinforcement in Game Six and finished with 28 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in another dominant performance that pulled the rug from under his Ginebra counterpart, Justin Brownlee.
Not only Durham, but veteran Reynel Hugnatan gave the Gin Kings as much headache.
The 38-year-old Hugnatan did not only impose his 6-foot-4 frame, but his shooting touch as well. He caught fire with 23 points, six of them three-pointers.
The Bolts were in control in Game Six. They led 44-24 at halftime, thanks to Hugnatan and Garvo Lanete who took turns at torching the net.
The Gin Kings were unrelenting and threatened at 69-75 in the third. But the Bolts held their ground and practically coasted to the win.
Barangay Ginebra Head Coach Tim Cone knows that they needed to solve the puzzle in finishing a game.
“Closing out games are really hard. They [Bolts] are really focused and ready,” Cone said.
Five Ginebra players finished in double figures led by Brownlee’s 23 points laced with nine rebounds.
Greg Slaughter almost had a perfect field-goal shooting of 9-of-10 and finished with 18 points.
“We couldn’t secure the rebounds and we missed big shots. But we are going to Game Five even, we are just looking forward of a great game,” Cone said.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza