SAN Miguel Beer finally got the game it expected from Orlando Johnson last Sunday and the Beermen now have what it takes to be their old formidable selves anew.
Johnson atoned mightily from his so-so performance in his first game back by flirting with a triple-double and powering SMB past struggling Ginebra 110-102 in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The former NBA player went 12-of-19 from the field, including a perfect 3-of-3 from deep, and added 10 rebounds and eight assists to more than make up for his lackluster performance in his first game back.
“During the long break, a lot of things happened to him,” Beermen coach Leo Austria said as he partly explained Johnson’s paltry 12-point effort, on 3-of-22 field shooting in their 81-96 loss to TNT last Wednesday.
“I’m happy to see him now, playing to our expectations, what we were looking for from him,” added Austria. “Nag-take charge siya.”
Johnson said he still has love for the team he played for during the 2015 edition of the same import-spiced conference, but added he’s here to do a job.
“You know it’s tough because I have so much love for NSD. I still have a lot of friends and teammates that play for them,” said the 32-year-old. “But every game is important. So even if you play, Ginebra, NLEX, whoever… you got to go and try to beat them.”
The win boosted SMB’s record to 4-3 in a tie it with Phoenix Super LPG at fifth, a deadlock that will be broken when they collide tomorrow.
More wins in the Beermen’s remaining four games, including matches against Magnolia, Rain or Shine and Meralco, would definitely stoke their chances of clinching a top four spot and a win-once advantage in the quarterfinals.
As important for Austria was the morale-boost his team gained from beating a team like Ginebra, which absorbed its fourth straight loss and slipped to 3-4 despite Justin Brownlee’s 40 points and nine rebounds.
“We know that this is a very important game for us and everybody wants to win because we’re in the middle of the pack,” said Austria. “The winner moves one game ahead of the other and this is a very welcome development for us.”
CJ Perez also translated SMB’s sense of urgency into game, finishing with 23 points. His fifth steal of the game and feed to Johnson led to a dunk by the latter that pegged a 108-100 count before the latter’s pull-up jumper made it a 10-point game, only 45 seconds left.
