Cone lauds Brownlee’s ‘Flu Game’

Justin Brownlee further earned Tim Cone’s love and respect when he played through sickness en route to powering Barangay Ginebra to a 93-81 victory over San Miguel Beer in the resumption of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Cone said their beloved resident import was under the weather but still insisted to see action to rally the locals to the overwhelming victory against their sister squad.

The 36-year-old Brownlee dropped 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists in 35 minutes of action.

More than that, he scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, allowing the Kings to diffuse the torrid Beermen fightback.

“Justin was really under the weather,” Cone said, referring to his import who has been averaging 28 points in 41 minutes of action in their first six games.

He may not be as flashy as other reinforcements, but Brownlee definitely has a huge fighting heart that helped him win the hearts of Filipino fans.

He put that fighting heart on full display in the 19th Asian Games two years ago when he single-handedly powered Gilas Pilipinas to a sizzling rally in the final stretch to book a thrilling 77-76 win in the semifinals of the men’s basketball event.

Brownlee said it was business as usual for him despite feeling under the weather.

“Maybe a flu-like thing is going around,” he said.

“I got it over the break. Unfortunately for me, I caught it at the wrong time. That’s all.”

With Brownlee not in his usual elements, Troy Rosario stepped up while Stephen Holt and Japeth Aguilar chipped in significant numbers for the Kings, who improved to a 5-2 win-loss record.