Fastbreak: Dawson explosion; Aces stirring comeback
RAMMING INTO A WALL. Alaska just bumped and bumped into Rain or Shine's wall before eventually coming back to beat the Painters. Photo by PBA Images/Nuki Sabio.
2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup
Meralco Bolts (102) - (92) Petron Blaze Boosters
The Best: As a team, the Bolts shot better than 50% from the field while also turning the ball over just 10 times throughout the game. This made up for the huge deficiency in rebounding, where Meralco was outclassed, 55-37, by the bigger Boosters.
The Worst: New Petron import Henry Sims was visibly outplayed here. He shot only 9-of-22 from the floor and turned the ball over 5 times with no assists. He was solid defensively, however, with 16 rebounds and 3 blocks.
How about Eric Dawson?: With Denzel Bowles and Mike Dunigan hogging the headlines, many have forgotten about Eric Dawson, who, perhaps, has the most decorated resume of all the imports remaining here. A few days after Carmelo Anthony dropped 50 on the Heat, Dawson dropped 57 on Petron on the strength of 20-of-34 FG shooting. He also had enough decency to grab 14 rebounds, block 3 shots and get 4 steals. Bowles and Dunigan to Gilas? How about this guy? THIS GUY.
Alaska Aces (89) - (84) Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
The Best: Jeff Chan might be Gilas Pilipinas's current chief sniper, but he was thoroughly outgunned by Gilas's former principal gunner, Dondon Hontiveros. In a performance reminiscent of his fourth quarter splurge against Japan in the 2011 Jones Cup, the Cebuano Hotshot poured in 18 of his 22 points in the final frame and OT to lead Alaska's awesome fightback.
The Worst: 2 out of 25. 8%. That's how badly ROS shot from rainbow country. Bruno Sundov and Chan made one trey each, but the rest of the Painters were shooting blanks. Still, they almost got away with it, leading by 17 going into the final canto.
The new Never-Say-Die?: The Aces did a Ginebra in this one, roaring back strong in the fourth to force overtime and then dominated in the extra session to remain firmly entrenched at the top spot. Alaska was actually outshot and outrebounded overall, but they made up for it by showing more grit and hustle when it counted the most. - Rappler.com
