MANILA — The top-seeded Barangay Ginebra Kings made mincemeat of the TNTKaTropa Texters with a resounding 125-101 victory in Game 3 of their PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinal series Thursday night. The Kings took advantage of the loss of TNT's hulking import Joshua Smith to foot injury in the second quarter to extend the best-of-5 series to a Game 4 on Saturday night. The fourth-seeded Texters still lead the series, 2-1. With legendary Ginebra playing-coach Sonny Jaworski providing inspiration while seated near the Ginebra bench, the Kings went berserk right from the get-go, clearly determined not to suffer another heartbreaking defeat. The Kings hit 47 of their 87 shots for a scorching 54-percent shooting. The Kings' impressive shooting was largely a result of better teamwork as shown by their huge 34-20 advantage in assists. Justin Brownlee was again at the spearhead of the Kings' offense, exploding for 31 points on an efficient 10-of-17 shooting, along with 11 boards, four blocks, two assists, and two steals in just 33 minutes. The Kings also tightened their defense, resulting in 17 TNT turnovers. Coach Tim Cone didn't bother to field his do-it-all import for the entire fourth quarter with the Kings enjoying a huge lead—as many as 32 points late in the game. Scottie Thompson led Ginebra's locals with 17 markers. Japeth Aguilar added 15 points while Sol Mercado and Joe Devance chipped in 12 and 10, respectively.
The Kings broke the game wide open in the second quarter, outscoring the Texters, 27-19, after Smith suffered a foot injury, which appeared serious enough for the team doctor to send him to a hospital for checkup.
The 6'9" 320-pound import finished with just four points on 2-of-6 shooting, seven boards, one assist, one steal, and one block in less than 10 minutes of play.
RR Garcia led the Texters with 16 points. Mo Tautuaa took over from Smith and finished with 15 points and five boards in 25 minutes.
Game Friday: San Miguel Beer vs. Star Hotshots (Game 4 of best-of-5 semifinals; SMB leads 2-1).
