SAN Miguel Beer (SMB) looks to widen its gap over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and solidify its title-retention campaign in Game Four of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven Finals series today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Fresh from a 132-94 humiliation of the Gin Kings on Wednesday, the defending champions try to move one win shy of clinching the series marked by lopsided scores and physical plays.
Game Four is set 7 pm., with the Beermen and their head coach, Leo Austria, trying to work closer for a seventh championship in as many attempts.
Barangay Ginebra actually had a good start after a 127-99 shocker in Game One. But it turned out that wide margins will be the storyline in the Finals as the ensuing matches yielded similar results with San Miguel Beer bouncing back with a 134-109 victory in Game Two.
Th 38-point rout two days ago tied the biggest winning margin in a Finals game—next to Alaska’s 99-61 triumph over San Miguel Beer in the 1998 All-Filipino Cup.
Even Austria is surprised that championship games would result to lopsided endings.
“Well, I was not expecting that. It’s kind of weird. This is a championship game and we’re expecting a close fight,” Austria said.
But Austria downplayed their lead.
“That was just one win. We’re up 2-1 and it’s a long way to go. We need another two wins to defend this title,” he said.
It was Alex Cabagnot who shone brightest for the Beermen with 25 points in Game Two. Chris Ross followed suit with a 23-point performance on seven triples in Game Three.
Their contributions made the Beermen deadlier with import Renaldo Balkman and big man June Mar Fajardo strutting their stuff in the shade.
Austria, however, reminded his players to not let their guards down against the Gin Kings, who have the firepower to tie the series anew.
“I’m trying to let them know that this is just one game and overconfidence should not sink in our team,” he said. “I hope it could serve as a morale-booster.”
Justin Brownlee was a lone ranger for Barangay Ginebra after firing 32 points and collecting 11 rebounds and three assists in Game Three.