PBA Commissioners’ Cup: Bay Area Dragons face must-win Game 6 on Wednesday against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
- Import player Andrew Nicholson has 50 per cent chance to return for the Dragons
- Keeping Justin Brownlee quiet essential to Dragons’ hopes of staying alive in series
The Bay Area Dragons are facing a do-or-die Game 6 in the Philippines Basketball Association Commissioners’ Cup finals on Wednesday night.
Trailing Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 3-2 in the best-of-seven-series, the Dragons are expected to welcome back Glen Yang after the point guard missed Sunday’s 101-91 Game 5 loss with an ankle injury.
But import player Andrew Nicholson remains a doubt with the injury sustained in last week’s 89-82 defeat in Game 3 – in an 89-82 loss.
In Nicholson’s absence, Hong Kong’s Duncan Reid, who was limited to just 13 minutes over the first three games, has spent far more time on the floor over the past two encounters.
“We will make a few defensive adjustments and focus on some rebounding issues,” the 33-year-old Reid said. “Our offence has been running well the last few games and the whole series had been tightly contested.”
Finding a way to contain Ginebra’s key player Justin Brownlee will be vital. The 34-year-old American import has averaged 30.8 points and 12.4 rebounds in the finals so far.
“Brownlee is a great player, so it is about making his shots as difficult as possible,” Reid said.
Yang said it was essential for the Dragons to stay out of foul trouble with Brownlee, something that would allow Zhu Songwei and Hayden Blankley to be “more aggressive with him”.
