In many a hotly contested
championship match decided by a best-of series of games, the moment the competing
teams start trading victories with each other – Team A winning Game 1, Team B
winning Game 2, A winning 3 and so on – it can mean that the two sides are
probably even in strength, skill and determination. At least that is what might
be perceived in how the Best-of-7 championship for the 2019 PBA Governor’s Cup
is now going. With Barangay Ginebra winning the first game and the Meralco
Bolts taking the second, it stands to trending that Game 3 would go to the Gin
Kings.
And indeed it has, according to The Philippine Star. For the third game
of this concluding season’s Best-of-7 Governor’s Cup Finals, held at the Smart
Araneta Coliseum this past Sunday, January 12, the Barangay Ginebra went give-take-give
with the Meralco Bolts in wins. Of course, such an outcome could perhaps only
be assured for Ginebra if something terrible – gameplay-wise – happened to the
Meralco lineup. But as it turns out, such a misfortune did befall the Bolts
right out of the first quarter when Raymond Almazan took a bad spill to put him
out of action.
Of course, it would not be the
Meralco Bolts under Norman Black if they just keeled over with the injury-loss
of one man. They at least kept their deficit to Ginebra down to a measly one
point at the end of Q1 (42-43). But the Barangay could smell blood in the hard-court
and were ready to exploit it. With Justin Brownlee (24 points), Stanly Pringle
and Japeth Aguilar (44 points together) on scoring duties, the Gin Kings worked
up to a 20-point lead over the Bolts by Q3 (78-58). While Allen Durham and
Chris Newsome did their level best to keep up, the tide would be against them
this time.
Durham was at the head of a
desperate rush for Meralco that put them at only five points behind Barangay
Ginebra (82-87) 4 seconds before the Last Two Minutes. Unfortunately LA Tenorio
dashed all hopes of the Bolts flipping the lead when he shot a 3-pointer at
1:47 left in Q4. Meralco only managed two more points beyond that point while
the Gin Kings blazed ahead to win Game 3 with the Final score, 92-84. Despite
Durham’s 23 and Newsome’s 24 points for their team, Meralco had no choice but
to write this encounter off.
Now the Bolts will have to aim
for payback at Game 4 of the 2019 Governor’s Cup. They will have two days off
before the next chapter of the Best-of-7 series this coming Wednesday, January
15, at the same venue.
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