Barangay Ginebra buried Rain or Shine with an avalanche of triples in a hot-shooting effort before holding off the Elasto Painters’ late-game rally to take Game 2, 109-101, and tie their PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series at 1-1 on Friday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Gin Kings dropped 10 of 20 three-point shot attempts in the first half as they sped off to a sizeable 62-40 lead.
The Gin Kings led by as many as 24 points and were enjoying a 101-84 advantage heading into the last four minutes when the Elasto Painters strung up 13 unanswered points to narrow the gap at four points.
Ginebra, though, managed to show composure down the stretch and quenched a late-game rally by Rain or Shine en route to the victory.
Justin Brownlee flirted with a triple-double as he finished with 31 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for Ginebra.
The three-time Best Import’s only blot in his awe-inspiring performance was accounting for nine of Ginebra’s 20 turnovers.
RJ Abarrientos also had solid scoring night, finishing with 25 points as the leading Best Player of the Conference candidate combined for eight treys with Brownlee.
Scottie Thompson finished with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Japeth Aguilar added 14 points and 12 boards for the Gin Kings.
Adrian Nocum led Rain or Shine with 20 points while Jaylen Johnson chipped in 19 points, 15 boards and seven assists.
Jhonard Clarito added 19 points while Gian Mamuyac scored 18 points for the Elasto Painters who took Game 1, 115-111.
