Barangay Ginebra held on for a 96-94 win over Rain or Shine to secure a spot in the PBA Commissioner's Cup finals and did so without the usual output from Justin Brownlee.
The usually prolific Brownlee struggled offensively Monday, shooting a woeful 4-of-14 from the field for 12 points.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone didn't mind.
Brownlee was coming off a 44-point outing in Game 3.
"We talked about that, we knew that was gonna happen," Cone said. "We knew they were gonna focus in, they did a really good job on Justin in the second half of Game 3, and we knew they were gonna come with that again, and with only one day, we didn't have a lot of time to really discuss and work with that."
The defensive focus on Brownlee opened the floor up for others. Greg Slaughter, Joe Devance, and LA Tenorio stepped in and the trio made the key baskets in the critical minutes. Tenorio knocked down the 3-pointer that put the Gin Kings ahead for good, 91-90.
"Because of that, it opened up a lot of things for other players. Greg and Japeth got some shots, we got some good looks, some of them didn't go down, but we got some good looks," Cone said.
Slaughter and Devance finished with 19 points, while Tenorio added 16 points, three rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
"So you know, we like to think we're more than just a Justin Brownlee team or an LA Tenorio team, we got weapons out there," Cone said.
Brownlee is thankful for his teammates is not at all surprised they stepped up with the game on the line.
"Well, anytime you can get a lot of guys who can score double figures, you know how we run our offense we pass the ball, move the ball and try to get everyone involved," Brownlee said. "We're not based on just one person scoring whether it's LA or Greg or Japeth [Aguilar], Joe, whoever, me, myself, you know we try everyone get going."
The Gin Kings now turn their attention to the San Miguel Beermen, who are powered by four-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and import Renaldo Balkman.
Since coach Leo Austria took over, the Beermen have yet to lose in the finals. They won all six, including the series against Alaska where they had to climb back from trailing in the series 3-0.
"I've been thinking, since the game was over, 'Now, what do I gotta do tomorrow?' Now I can relax a little bit. Friday, yes, I'm so happy. Now we can prepare. It seems like every time we play San Miguel, we can't be prepared, we always get one day. So now we get a little preparation, that will be good," Cone said. "They get a little bit more rest than us, but at least we'll have some rest as well. And the extra couple of days will really help Japeth."
The Gin Kings have until Friday to figure out how to end the Beermen's streak.