The Finals of the 2013 PBA
Governors’ Cup suddenly became a best-of-five affair after sister teams Petron
Blaze and San Mig Coffee split the first two games of the series.
 |
| Marqus Blakely and Elijah Millsap led their teams to one win apiece in the first two games of the titular series. |
In Game 1, Petron used a
strong start and a strong finish to bookend its impressive 100-84 win over San
Mig Coffee. The Mixers were able to recover after falling behind by
double-digits early in the game, even leading entering the fourth quarter,
61-59. The Boosters, however, responded with torrid outside shooting, making 7
triples in the final frame to leave their foes sulking in the dust. Leading the charge in that pivotal
fourth period rally were former Gilas wingmen Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz,
both of whom combined for 19 of Petron’s 41 fourth quarter points.
On the other end, the
Mixers weren’t able to get much from import Marqus Blakely in the last twelve
minutes of the game. Blakely scored just two markers in that last stanza to
finish with 23 points overall. Big Game James Yap also struggled in this one.
The former UE Red Warrior made just 2/9 from the field and finished with 8
points. He scored 0 in the first three quarters of the match.
The best player of the
game, by far, was Petron import Elijah Millsap, who continued to thrill the
Boosters’ fans with his amazing all-around play. Millsap actually registered
his third triple-double of the conference, scoring 35 points, grabbing 10
rebounds, and handing out 10 assists. If coach Tim Cone’s Mixers harbor any
hopes of making a series out of this one, then they have to find a way to
contain Millsap.
In Game 2, though, things
were turned around as San Mig Coffee overcame Petron Blaze, 100-93. Best Import
awardee Marqus Blakely proved why he was deserving of the citation, scoring 23
points, grabbing 16 rebounds, handing out 6 assists, and getting 4 steals as he
played all of 45 minutes, leading the Mixers in a big Game 2 win to tie the
series at 1-1. Blakely was outplayed in the fourth period of Game 1, so he was
raring to go and make minced meat out of the Petron defense. He did just that,
apparently, but he still needs to improve his FT shooting; he connected on just
7/21 freebies.
Three guys fouled out for
the Boosters here -- their import Elijah Millsap and their starting frontcourt
(Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo). Obviously, that never augurs well for the
team. It was probably frustration more than anything else, of course, since
Petron is so used to coming out of these things the winner. It was fun to see
them hit some threes and cut the lead down to a single basket with under 9
seconds left, but this time around they couldn't complete the comeback.
Santos was named Best
Player of Conference, while SMC's own James Yap was barely an afterthought. In
this game, however, Yap outperformed Santos by a mile. Yap produced 17 points,
8 boards, 3 dimes, and 1 steal in a great all-around effort, while the BPC managed
just 4 markers, 1 rebound, and 1 block in a foul-plagued 27 minutes of action.
Game Recaps:
PETRON BLAZE over SAN MIG COFFEE, 100-84
The Petron Blaze Boosters
used a furious fourth quarter charge to take a 100-84 victory over the San Mig
Coffee Mixers in Game One of the Governors’ Cup finals on Friday at the Mall of
Asia Arena.
After scoring just 59
points in the first three quarters, the Boosters poured down 41 huge points in
the final period to book the win in their first match in the championship round
since winning the tournament in 2011.
“I just thought we played
a great fourth quarter,” said Petron coach Gee Abanilla, who was victorious in
his first finals game as a PBA head coach. “I’m surprised also. We just got
into a rhythm.”
Petron made 7-of-11 shots
from beyond the arc in the final period, to break down the tight defense of the
Mixers.
“They got rolling with
their three-point shooting,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone. “When they
started making their threes, they got a little bit ahead.”
Elijah Millsap had his
third triple-double of the tournament, finishing with 35 points, 10 rebounds,
and 10 assists.
“He’s just showing
different dimensions of his game,” said Abanilla. “Even though he scores a lot,
he still shares the ball.”
Chris Lutz provided a big
spark in the fourth quarter, making 3-of-3 shots from three-point distance to
score all 11 of his points in the period. Lutz and Marcio Lassiter, who had
eight points in the final quarter, played so well that star forward Arwind
Santos didn’t see action anymore for the Boosters after the third period.
Marqus Blakely led San Mig
Coffee with 23 points and 14 rebounds, but scored just two points in the fourth
quarter. Mixers superstar James Yap struggled all game, scoring just eight
points, all in the final period.
Abanilla downplayed the
importance of winning the game in the context of the best-of-seven matchup,
which resumes with Game Two on Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“This means nothing as of
now. It’s a long series.”
PET 100 – Millsap 35, Santos 16, Fajardo 12, Lassiter 12, Lutz 11, Cabagnot 10,
Miranda 2, Tubid 2, Kramer 0.
SMC 84 – Blakely 23, Pingris 16, Simon 13, Devance 10, Yap 8, Barroca 6, De
Ocampo 4, Mallari 2, Reavis 2, Acuna 0.
QS: 23-18, 41-36, 59-61, 100-84
 |
| Coach Chot Reyes of Gilas Pilipinas receives a plaque from the PBA for leading his team to the World Cup. |
 |
| Yancy De Ocampo tries to shoot over fellow big man June Mar Fajardo. |
SAN MIG COFFEE over PETRON BLAZE, 100-93
The San Mig Coffee Mixers
tied the PLDT Telpad Governors’ Cup finals with a 100-93 victory, but not
before fending off a late charge from a spirited Petron squad at the
SMART-Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
Marqus Blakely, who was
named the tournament’s Best Import before the game, led San Mig Coffee with 23
points, 16 rebounds, six assists, and four steals. James Yap added 17 points
and eight rebounds for the Mixers, who saw a double-digit lead whittled down to
just three points in the dying seconds.
San Mig Coffee coach Tim
Cone marvelled at the grit shown by the Boosters squad, who had to play
all-Filipino in the last 3:29 of the game after import Elijah Millsap fouled
out.
“I was beginning to think
that this team wasn’t gonna lose,” said Cone.
The game was a tense
affair, with things reaching a boiling point after Arwind Santos elbowed
Blakely, resulting in a technical foul on the Petron Blaze forward with 2:55
remaining.
“They got a little
frustrated tonight, they got used to winning,” said Cone. “We may be sister
teams but we’re certainly not friendly.”
Peter June Simon made the
technical free throw to give the Mixers an 89-79 edge.
Apart from Millsap, Santos
and June Mar Fajardo also fouled out for Petron in the fourth quarter.
But Petron did not go
away, with Alex Cabagnot hitting a three-pointer to trigger a late charge from
the Boosters.
Ronald Tubid capped the
14-7 run with a three-pointer with 8.6 seconds left that cut the Petron deficit
to only three points, 96-93.
But San Mig Coffee proved
steady from the foul line, hitting four free throws to finally put the game
away.
The Mixers showed good
balance on the offensive end, with seven players contributing at least eight
points apiece.
Millsap led Petron with 31
points while Cabagnot added 22. Fajardo finished with 16 point for the
Boosters.
SMC 100 – Blakely 23, Yap 17, Simon 16, Devance 15, Pingris 11, Barroca 9,
Mallari 8, Reavis 1, De Ocampo 0.
PET 93 – Millsap 31, Cabagnot 22, Fajardo 16, Lassiter 10, Tubid 5, Santos 4,
Miranda 3, Kramer 2, Lutz 0.
QS: 30-23, 49-44, 74-62, 100-93
 |
| James Yap unloaded a brilliant performance in Game 2. |
 |
| Arwind Santos of Petron won BPC. |
 |
| Marqus Blakely of SMC was named Best Import. |
Source: Unless otherwise specified, game recaps were compressed and
compiled from InterAKTV. (Writing credit to Rey Joble)
Images: Images are from InterAKTV. (Photo credit to Pranz Kaeno Billones,
Paul Ryan Tan, and Paolo Papa)
Tweet
0 Comment