MANILA, Philippines – After Justin Brownlee toasted the San Miguel defense in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup finals, Alex Cabagnot returned the favor to the Gin Kings in Game 2.

Brownlee, the leading candidate for Best Import honors, powered Ginebra to a 127-99 win in Game 1 by firing 42 points on an incredible 17-of-19 shooting clip – including 5-of-5 from beyond the arc. With him waxing hot right from the opening tip, the Gin Kings surged to a huge lead and never looked back.

In Game 2, it was Cabagnot's turn to have the hot hand. The veteran guard had 22 points in the first half, making eight of his 12 shots including four three-pointers to tow SMB to a 75-46 advantage. He did not quite match Brownlee's output – Cabagnot finished with a career-best 33 points – but he did not need to.

Five other San Miguel players scored in double-digits, and the Beermen ran away with a 134-109 win to tie the best-of-7 finals series at 1-1.

• READ: San Miguel returns favor, destroys Ginebra in Game 2 to tie finals

"Well, the shots were just falling today, I guess," said Cabagnot, who also had a team-high nine assists on top of four steals and four rebounds in 37 minutes of action. "Maraming salamat sa coaching staff for allowing me to play today."

Coach Leo Austria was effusive in his praise, noting that Cabagnot's performance was a key factor in their win.

"Kung obsessed 'yung kalaban last game naman, si Alex kanina, obsessed eh. He can feel it, and he really wants to win," said Austria.

It was a bounce-back game from Cabagnot, who only had five points in their Game 1 loss. Also recovering was Marcio Lassiter, who was limited to six points on 2-of-13 shooting last Friday, but fired 20 points this time around.

For Cabagnot, their performance showed that the adjustments they made in practice worked. However, he was also quick to point out that all they did was to tie the best-of-seven series.

"They played well in Game 1. We played well in Game 2. That’s just the ebony-ivory flow of the series so we can’t look at it as personal like that so we just have to continue to watch extensive film and just continue to learn," said Cabagnot, who shot down the idea that they avenged their lopsided loss in Game 1.

"I’m pretty sure there’s still a lot of mistakes that we need to patch up so we’re still striving for that perfect game. Hopefully we could attain that," he added.

With how momentum has shifted back-and-forth between the two teams in the first two games, Cabagnot stressed that they have to stay ahead of the curve in Game 3.

"I expect the coaching staff, the management… everybody that's part of our organization to be on pins and needles, because we know naman coach Tim Cone is a great coach," said Cabagnot. "He's one of the greatest coaches in the PBA."

"We're going to try to prepare as well as possible, so for Game 3, we could be adequately reinforced," he added.

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