Confetti could fall as soon as this Wednesday in the 2022 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, as the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is only a win away from winning yet another championship. Will Ginebra finish it all off in Game 6? Or, will the Bolts find a way to force a Game 7?
Catch this game live on Wednesday, April 20 at 6:00 pm, Manila time.
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (3-2)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: LA Tenorio
- SG: Scottie Thompson
- SF: Justin Brownlee
- PF: Christian Standhardinger
- C: Japeth Aguilar
Justin Brownlee is giving all he’s got in this series. Ginebra’s resident import churned out a total of 40 points on 13/17 shooting with 11 rebounds and 5 assists in 44 minutes of Game 5. Does Brownlee have enough gas left in his tank? That will partly depend on how well the locals will be in providing support, and so far, he’s been getting a lot. In Game 5, four of seven locals who got minutes provided at least 10 points, led by do-it-all guard Scottie Thompson, who had 19 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds.
Thompson hasn’t just been generating fantastic numbers, but he’s also been feeding the crowd with plenty of energy to help demoralize the other side. It’s also getting harder for Meralco to stop the Barangay because of the latter’s hot outside shooting. Ginebra sank 12 threes in Game 4 and 16 more in Game 6. With a closeout game coming up for Ginebra, the best might be yet to come from the Barangay’s snipers.
The Meralco Bolts (2-3)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Aaron Black
- SG: Chris Newsome
- SF: Allein Maliksi
- PF: Tony Bishop
- C: Raymond Almazan
It’s do-or-die time for the Bolts. Whether they extend their season or not is going to largely depend on the play of Tony Bishop – on both ends of the court. Bishop scored 30 points in Game 5, but he fell way short of matching what Brownlee produced. Meralco’s interior defense as a team will also have to get better. Raymond Almazan is a sold rim protector, but how the Bolts will stop Ginebra players from getting to the paint is an issue they will have to resolve now.
The Barangay scored 22 more points (52-30) in the paint than the Bolts in Game 5. Meralco’s offense looked fine, though, with Chris Newsome and Aaron Black scoring 27 and 25 points, respectively, while combining for an efficient 21/39. If anything, it was also a good sign that Allein Maliksi scored 12 points in Game 5 after coughing up just three points in Game 4. He’s been so inconsistent in the series, but with the Bolts’ backs against the wall, Maliksi doesn’t have much choice but to knock down his shots.
PREDICTION:
Spread: Meralco covers (+3) in a close game.
Over/Under: The total hits the Under (186.5) in Game 6.
