Myles Powell backed up his bravado with a super effort in Game 6.
Myles Powell boldly declared back in the eliminations he was the best import in this tournament.
He just made his case in Game 6 of the Commissioner's Cup — and against the tournament’s Best Import himself, Justin Brownlee.
Injured and all, Powell looked like a super import himself, scoring 29 points on 5-for-11 shooting from three to help the Bay Area Dragons send this series to a winner-take-all on Sunday.
The 6-2 American, who injured his foot prior to the playoffs, looked spry and explosive the moment he came off the bench, making his first three less than three minutes after checking in to game. And, true to form, Powell played along to the jeers of massive pro-Ginebra crowd, glaring at the fans after almost every made basket.
“I know what I mean to the team. If I couldn’t bring that, I wouldn’t have stepped out on the floor,” Powell said post-game. “Coach [Brian Goorjian] sacrificed for us, so it was my turn to sacrifice — and that’s what I went out and did today.”
Powell saved his best for last in the payoff period, doing something Brownlee has done so many times before: close out the show. With Bay Area still down 72-76, the former Philadelphia 76er showed the stuff best imports are made of, scoring 12 of the Dragons’ last 15 points — including back-to-back tightly contested treys to tie the game at 78.
“It’s totally will, it’s incredible,” said Goorjian of Powell’s Game 6 heroics. “We put the ball in his hands . . . and he took us to the promised land.”
Indeed, Bay Area put the ball in Powell’s hands in the final eight minutes of Game 6 — and he delivered. He outscored Brownlee 12 to 4 in that frame to win this much-anticipated showdown between two of the best imports the PBA has seen. The Gin Kings’ resident reinforcement was himself superb in Game 6, finishing with 37 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals, and 4 blocks in an all-out effort to end these Finals.
Normally, that kind of super effort from Brownlee would be enough. It was not enough this time — not with another super import doing his thing.