Bay Area welcomes back Powell as Dragons force winner-take-all Game 7 over Ginebra
Bay Area welcomed import Myles Powell back with open arms as the former NBA player led the Dragons’ thrilling PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals Game 6 escape over Barangay Ginebra, 87-84.
As if he didn’t endure a severe left foot injury, Powell came off the bench and tallied a team-high 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting in almost 36 minutes of action, while Justin Brownlee paced the sorry loss with a 37-point, 11-assist, 10-rebound triple-double plus 4 blocks and 4 steals in 47 minutes.
Game 7 tips off at the 55,000-seater Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan on Sunday, January 15, 5:45 pm, two days later than the original Friday schedule. Read the full story here.
Hello championship or hello Philippine Arena?
Barangay Ginebra is on the cusp of its fourth title in six conferences as it faces the banged-up Bay Area Dragons in Game 6 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals on Wednesday, January 11, 5:45 pm, at the Araneta Coliseum.
With its back against the wall, Bay Area threw a last-minute curveball at the Gin Kings’ direction after reactivating import Myles Powell – once thought to be out of commission for two more weeks at the very least due to a left toe injury – in lieu of Andrew Nicholson, who tweaked his left ankle in Game 3.
With the league-leading scorer back in the fold at partial strength, the Dragons will add some desperately needed scoring punch to a lineup decimated with injuries.
To date, only Kobey Lam, Songwei Zhu, and Duncan Reid are left unharmed from head coach Brian Goorjian’s usual weapons after captain and primary playmaker Glen Yang went down with a right lower leg injury in Game 4, while Hayden Blankley visibly got hurt just as Game 5 was down to its last seconds.
Ginebra, on the other hand, has its own personnel issues after “Iron Man” LA Tenorio suffered a groin injury in Game 5’s second quarter, and failed to endure the pain past the first possession of the third period.
Japeth Aguilar is also suffering from a yet-unidentified gastro issue, while fellow big man Christian Standhardinger is fresh off a bout of food poisoning.
With both teams limping their way to the finish line, can the superstar tandem of Best Import Justin Brownlee and MVP Scottie Thompson end the series at the Big Dome, or will Powell and company drag the fight to Bulacan for a winner-take-all Game 7 at the 55,000-seater Philippine Arena?
