FOUR days before Christmas, Barangay Ginebra and Converge FiberX clash in an out-of-town game in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Batangas City Coliseum.

Game time is 7:30 p.m. with the Gin Kings and the FiiberXers looking to sustain their winning streal as the league enters the final week of its 2024 schedule.

The Gin Kings, on the other hand, rod eon Justin Brownlee’s 49-point explosion to whip Terrafirma, 114-98, and improve to 3-1 for the season.

Brownlee’s game-long brilliance came after he was held to only 18 points in Ginebra’s 90-93 setback to Hong Kong Eastern.

The win also came with Ginebra playing minus two key stalwarts in Japeth Aguilar (groin injury) and Stephen Holt (knee),

The FiberXers relied on the duo of Cheick Diallo and Jordan Heading and to roll back Phoenix Super LPG,116-105, and climb to a share of third place with a to third place with 4-2 win-loss record.

Diallo and Heading and Cheick Diallo each finished with 21 points as the FiberXersrallied from an early 18-point deficit ( 2-20) to frustrate the Fuel Masters.

The win came after Converge also defeated NLEX, 102-91, last Tuesday.

After Saturday’s duel in Batangas, Converge and Ginebra are set to meet different oppoents on Christmas Day at the at the Smart Aranatea Coliseum.

The FiberXers will take on the Meralco Bolts while the Gin Kings will meet the Magnolia Hotshots on the final two games of Asia’s play-for-pay league for the year 2024.

Both Converge coach Franco Atienza and Ginebra mentor Tim Cone know the importance of their last two assignments heading to 2025.

“We give credit to our guys. We just stuck on, we didn’t panic,”added Atienza aftedr Converge’s come-from-behind victory.

“We returned to how we want to run our system, how to run our offense, our defense.,” added Atienza.

Cone was also visibly pleased with Ginebra’s effort following a sorry loss to Eastern.

“It was a good win for us because we are missing two starters, two really important starters that have been contributing big time for us,: said Cone, referring to the game against Terrafirma.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Robert Andaya