KINGS EQUALIZE
Beaten in a close game the last time, Barangay Ginebra made it sure not to leave the same opening for San Mig Coffee in this game.
The Kings returned, playing aggressive on both ends and outscoring the Mixers in every quarter for a 93-64 revenge win in Game Two of their PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup Final Four faceoff at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.
Top rookie Greg Slaughter asserted himself and Barangay Ginebra second-stringers Jayjay Helterbrand, Billy Mamaril, JayR Reyes and Emman Monfort provided a big help as the Kings tied the best-of-seven series at 1-1.
“Ang daming magandang nangyari na lahat galing sa aggressiveness na ipinakita namin in this game,” said Barangay Ginebra head coach Ato Agustin.
“Mukhang nasorpresa namin sila sa zone defense namin. Good sign yung na-limit namin sila down to 64 points,” Agustin also said.
The Kings’ bench chieftain said they intend to apply the same formula in Game Three set Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“Mag-a-adjust yan sa zone namin. We’ll anticipate that,” said Agustin.
In Game Two played before 19,279 screaming souls, the Kings established their game in the second quarter and utterly dominated the Mixers in the final half.
The Mixers, meanwhile, seemed to have started on the wrong foot with the small combination of Mark Barroca, James Yap, PJ Simon, Marc Pingris and Joe Devance.
San Mig Coffee head coach Tim Cone made his adjustments but the Mixers failed to hit a good rhythm.
They simply had no chance of repeating their 85-83 steal in Game One.
The tandem of LA Tenorio and Monfort — fielded together midway through the second period to take on the pair of Barroca and Justin Melton – helped fuel the Kings’ second-quarter breakaway.
“Ang ganda nung kumbinasyon na yon. Na-isip ko kailangan namin ng extra threat. Na-deliver naman nila,” said Agustin.
Tenorio set up Monfort for a trey to cap a key 20-8 second-quarter run giving Ginebra a 48-32 buffer at the half.
Mac Baracael rifled in a three-pointer then Slaughter scored on a dish by Mark Caguioa at the start of the third quarter, and there was no more stopping the Kings from roaring to the big victory even up to the final second of the game.
The final score turned to be the biggest lead for Barangay Ginebra in the virtual one-sided contest.
Slaughter started strong and finished with game-highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds, his 10th double-double in the conference.
The converted 50 percent of their shots from the field while the Mixers struggled with a 34.2-percent clip in the first half.
Slaughter went 5-of-6 from the field and with the clip from the stripe for 15 points on top of seven rebounds in 17 minutes of action in the opening half. (SB)
TIP-INS: The 29-point win is Barangay Ginebra’s biggest margin since routing Rain or Shine 114-71 on May 24, 2009 in a playoff for the second outright semifinal berth in the 2009 Fiesta Conference…The 29-point loss on the other hand equaled San Mig Coffee’s worst under Cone, having also lost to Talk ‘N Text 92-63 on Nov. 21, 2012 in last season’s Philippine Cup elims… It was the Mixers franchise’s worst in the playoffs however in nearly 16 years, or since losing to Gordon’s Gin 119-84 on March 24, 1998 in the semis of that year’s All-Filipino Cup… Slaughter’s 10 doubles-doubles is second-most among all players in the conference, behind only Petron Blaze big man June Mar Fajardo’s 13. (FM)
The scores:
BARANGAY GINEBRA 93 – Slaughter 21, Helterbrand 11, Tenorio 10, Mamaril 10, Reyes 8, Caguioa 8, Aguilar 7, Monfort 5, Ellis 4, Faundo 4, Baracael 3, Forrester 2, Ababou 0.
SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE 64 – Simon 16, Pingris 15, Yap 14, Barroca 7, De Ocampo 3, Acuna 3, Mallari 3, Devance 2, Cawaling 1, Gaco 0, Sangalang 0, Melton 0, Holstein 0, Reavis 0.
Quarterscores: 24-19, 48-32, 69-53, 93-64
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