Gin Kings clash with Road Warriors
With limited participation in practice in the last two days, will Barangay Ginebra import sub Justin Brownlee be ready for a grind versus NLEX and its tested import Henry Walker?
Much attention will be on Brownlee as the Gin Kings and the Road Warriors clash in the PBA Governors Cup Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, with both sides looking to spring back from a loss.
Ginebra dropped an overtime duel with Alaska Milk, 100-109, with Brownlee battling cramps on the sideline.
NLEX, meanwhile, tumbled to a 93-94 loss to San Miguel Beer on Friday on back-to-back three-pointers by Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter in the last 27.1 seconds.
Both the Kings and the Road Warriors narrowly missed a second straight win in the season-ending tournament currently paced by the Mahindra Enforcers, the San Miguel Beermen and the TNT Katropa Texters at 2-0.
Brownlee, Ginebra’s replacement to injury-hit Paul Harris, showed great promise before cramping out in his PBA debut versus Alaska.
He titillated the Ginebra throngs with a game-high 31 points on 13-of-25 shooting that went with 13 rebounds in 29 minutes of play.
But again the question is will he be able to play extended minutes now.
“He’s got a good rest already. Hopefully, maka-adjust agad sa weather at sa system ni coach Tim (Cone),” said Ginebra top official Alfrancis Chua.
He needs to adjust quickly especially as he faces off with an experienced PBA import in his second game in the local pro league.
Walker, formerly an Alaska Milk import, is off to an explosive two-game start with NLEX, averaging 38.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals.
In their sorry loss to the Beermen, Walker led all scorers with 33 points and also got six rebounds, four assists and two steals but botched two potential game-clinching attempts in the last 20 seconds.
He came through with a personal PBA high of 44 points in their 96-90 drubbing of the Blackwater Elite earlier. (SB)
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