There were a lot of reasons Barangay Ginebra pulled out a rousing 105-91 win over the San Miguel Beermen in Game 4 of their PBA Philippine Cup semis showdown. But the biggest one of all was Scottie Thompson, who did it all in leading Ginebra to the crucial victory that leveled the series at two games apiece.
In all, Thompson finished with a career-high 35 points on top of 11 rebounds and 11 assists in an explosive yeoman’s effort that seemingly inspired Ginebra and excited the crowd at the same time. Thompson’s scoring was especially crucial to start Game 4, as it helped keep Ginebra within striking distance of a red-hot San Miguel squad that made seven triples in the first quarter alone. He added 9 more points in the fourth aside from his usual mix of rebounds, assists, and sticky defense to engineer Team NSD’s backbreaking windup.
‘Lucky for Me,’ Says Scottie Thompson
Afterward, in the postgame presser, Thompson was nonchalant about his historic triple-double, which was the first 30-10-10 stat line posted in the PBA since Ginebra assistant coach Johnny Abarrientos dropped 30 points, 15 rebounds, and 14 assists in the 1993 All-Filipino Conference.
“We fought hard, we battled every quarter. Luckily, just a good night for me,” Thompson said when asked about his all-around brilliance. “‘Yung rhythm namin as a team, ‘yung ang pinaka-importante, especially on the defensive end… Overall, we got the W, lucky for me. Credit din sa mga teammates ko. Overall, we lift up each other, we help each other. We stay together through ups and downs…”
Humility After a Legendary Performance
It didn’t take long for Tim Cone to butt in and add his two cents’ worth as he described Scottie Thompson’s performance as “legendary,” while lauding his humility, which Cone said is similar to that of June Mar Fajardo’s.
“You can keep asking this guy the same question, and he’ll keep deflecting it to other people. He won’t take any credit at all. This has been his thing throughout his whole career,” Cone pointed out. “Let me just say, it was a legendary performance. I think we’re going to remember this one for a long time. Scottie is the most humble guy you’ll ever meet, maybe outside of June Mar Fajardo… We see that on the Gilas team. No doubt, it’s a legendary performance…”
Indeed, a 35-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist effort marked by relentless defense and hustle is pretty special. But for Scottie Thompson, it was just another day in the office.
