Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Justin Brownlee will finish the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals even if it means playing with nine good fingers only.
And, regardless of the outcome of Ginebra’s series against the TNT Tropang Giga, Brownlee will likely need surgery after dislocating his thumb in Game 3, according to Tim Cone.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt he’s going to need surgery when this series is over to help reattach some ligaments onto his thumb, but he’s just going to manage his way through it at this point,” Cone told reporters after Ginebra eked out a win in Game 5 to go up 3-2 in this best-of-seven title series.
Those ligaments, though, will have to wait—and that means Justin Brownlee will play out the rest of the series with pain and discomfort in his right thumb.
“Our trainers are working around the clock with him, keeping the swelling down, doing whatever therapy they can do for him, icing, whatever. But the bottom line is he’s just going to have to go through some pain to try to get this championship,” Cone added.
Thumb Injury Taking a Toll on Justin Brownlee?
To his credit, Brownlee shook off his injury to lead Ginebra to a critical win in Game 4—one that kept the crowd darlings from falling into a 3-1 hole against a team that has been their Kryptonite thus far.
Brownlee did the same in Game 5, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the second half—eight in each in the third and fourth quarters—to power Ginebra to a 3-2 series advantage. However, things didn’t go as smoothly for Brownlee as he was uncharacteristically passive in the first half and looked uncomfortable holding on to the ball.
According to Cone, Brownlee’s busted thumb had a lot to do with it.
“Justin was struggling a little bit more with his hand today than he was in the last game. And so I think everybody had to learn how to step up. And even though Justin made some big shots down the stretch,” Cone said. “I think he was having a harder time gripping the ball today. You can see it. He made some uncharacteristic turnovers when the ball was slipping out of his hands. It’s like he was afraid to grab the ball hard. That’s just something he’s managing as we go.”
Now, Cone is hoping his prized reinforcement, whom he credits for “playing magnificently” despite his injury, can recover well enough to close out the series in style.
If Justin Brownlee can soldier on just a bit more, there’s a good chance a championship ring will be waiting for him after surgery.
