The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel are on the brink of bringing home the bacon in the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner’s Cup after taking the 3-2 series lead following a 101-91 win in Game 5 over the Bay Area Dragons last Sunday. Will Ginebra finish the job this Wednesday? Or, will Bay Area force a cardiac Game 7 on Friday?

Catch this game live on Wednesday,  January 11at 5:45 pm, Manila time.

Bay Area Dragons (2-3)

  • Projected Starting Five:
  • PG: Glen Yang (questionable)
  • SG: Kobey Lam
  • SF: Myle Powell
  • PF: Songwei Zhu
  • C:  Hayden Blankley

The big news out of the Bay Area camp is that the Dragons activated Myles Powell Tuesday. That means the high-scoring Dragons import is in line to play Wednesday in Game 6. Having Powell on the floor, even if he’s less than 100%, will be a tremendous shot in the arm of the desperate Bay Area side. 

Powell’s gravity alone in addition to his incredible shot-making ability will add significant strain on Ginebra’s defense that still allowed 14 3-pointers to the banged-up Dragons in Game 5. Speaking of which, the Dragons have buried 14 3-pointers in each of the last two games of the series and they could see more scoring opportunities from deep with Powell expected to attract a ton of attention from Ginebra’s defense. 

Powell led the Dragons in the elimination phase with 37.3 points on 48.5 FG%. The Dragons are also optimistic that they’ll have Glen Yang back after he missed Game 5 with an ankle issue.

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Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (3-2)

Projected Starting Five:

  • PG: Scottie Thompson
  • SG: Stanley Pringle
  • SF: Jamie Malonzo
  • PF: Justin Brownlee
  • C: Japeth Aguilar

Justin Brownlee is a constant performer for Ginebra, and if the Barangay are to close things out this Wednesday, they might have to need someone to come up big again for them. In Game 5, that was Stanley Pringle, who added to the 37-point production of Brownlee with 20 points, including a pair of backbreaking 3-pointers in the clutch. 

As they brace for a looming return of Powell for the Dragons, the Barangay’s defense will get challenged in a much tougher way this Wednesday. That said, perhaps even the Dragons don’t know for sure how ready Powell’s body is after spending a long time sidelined. 

Powell will get deployed right away in a high-pressure game with everything on the line for the Dragons, and that’s despite him yet being fully acclimated to live-game atmosphere. Ginebra shot 50.7 FG% and hit 13 of 27 attempts from behind the arc in Game 5.

PREDICTION:

Spread: Bay Area (-1.5) covers the spread.

Over/Under: The total (188.0) hits the Over.