PBA Philippine Cup action on Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium opened with two teams with vastly different fates. On one hand was Barangay Ginebra San Miguel fighting for their playoff hopes, and on the other hand was Terrafirma Dyip looking to play spoiler. But there was going to be no upset in this game as Ginebra chalked up a dominant 108-77 victory—the team’s third straight—to move up to 5-4 and send the Dyip to 1-9.
What Happened?
Ginebra opened the game with a 15-4 lead, extended it to 20-8 at the four-minute mark of the first, and then to 25-13 at the end of one. The crowd darlings never looked back, riding that strong start and piling onto the lead in the next three quarters to notch the crucial win while sending Terrafirma to another loss.
Who Stood Out?
Norbert Torres and Jayson David came off the bench and sparked Ginebra, with the former putting up 13 points and 7 rebounds, and the latter adding 16 markers and 8 boards. Scottie Thompson was also superb, controlling the pace and finishing with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.
On the other side, not much went right for Terrafirma, although Paolo Hernandez and JM Bravo put up a semblance of a fight. Hernandez, a pleasant surprise this conference, fired 15 points to lead Terrafirma, while Bravo had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
3 Keys to the Game
- Defense. Ginebra’s defense was sensational in this game, walling off the paint and closing out on the Dyip at the perimeter all game long. That defense was so on-point that Ginebra held Terrafirma to a ghastly 33% clip from the field, and forced the Dyip to 18 turnovers.
- Execution. Tim Cone-coached squads are known for precise ball and player movement. Both were evident against Terrafirma as the Ginebra offense flowed, with Thompson and company moving the ball around and consistently finding the open man. In the end, Ginebra finished with 30 assists on 45.2% shooting overall.
- Bench spark. For the second straight game, Ginebra’s bench provided a spark, with David, Torres, and Sonny Estil all finishing in double figures, and RJ Abarrientos chipping in 9 more. In all, Ginebra’s bench outscored their counterparts from Terrafirma 61-42.
Next Up for the PBA
The finalists of last season’s PBA Philippine Cup Finals—the TNT Tropang 5G and San Miguel Beermen—will be playing on Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo and will look to improve their chances of a top-four finish. The Tropa will open Saturday action against another team with top-four aspirations, the NLEX Road Warriors, while the Beermen will go up against Blackwater Bossing, who are out of the running for the playoffs.
TNT vs. NLEX (5:15 p.m.)
San Miguel vs. Blackwater (7:30 p.m.)
