Bay Area stars Myles Powell and Hayden Blankley were slapped with a massive fine by the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) last Thursday after violently reacting to the officiating of finals game 3 for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Mall of Asia Arena.
OH MY GOODNESS SCOTTIE
Lamang na ang Ginebra, 81-79!#PBAFinals#PBAGameTayoDito pic.twitter.com/9I7g1UwDql
— PBA (@pbaconnect) January 4, 2023
Powell was given a P100,000 fine, while Blankley got P75,000.
To put into context, Bay Area suffered an 89-82 loss to the Barangay Ginebra after wasting a seven-point lead during the last four minutes of the fourth quarter. The Bay Area stars then took to social media to air their frustration, particularly on the referees’ officiating.
In a now-deleted Instagram story, Blankley, who fouled out in the middle of the fourth quarter, claimed that the game was “cooked.”
“Got nothing but love for the [Philippines] and its people, but at this point, it’s obvious, just let it be a fair game, please,” the player wrote. “As the locals would say—it’s ‘cooked.”
This IG story by Hayden Blankley will certainly be talked about.
Blankley finished with 10 points but fouled out in Game 3 @spinph pic.twitter.com/5kH1FMuqmI
— Reuben Terrado (@reubensports) January 4, 2023
Meanwhile, Powell, who is inactive because of an injury, accused the organization of favoring Ginebra on free throws. In their match, stats revealed the Gin Kings having 38 attempts on the line while Bay Area only had 10.
“Y’all saying we shot 21 free throws in game 2 & y’all only shot 5 proves exactly my point,” tweeted the team’s reserve import. As of this writing, the statement has been deleted from his account.
myles powell twit! Unfair naman yang comment niya! pic.twitter.com/5ileABHlZu
— John Lee (@puffdbear2000) January 5, 2023
He even added that the referees have been “making the difference.” He said that a game should “just be a fair called game.”
Although both players apologized, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial called Blankley and Powell for a closed meeting following the incident.
Bay Area Coach Frustrated but would not Switch
Brian Goorjian, Dragons coach, was obviously mad with their game three loss.
“I really don’t think you wanna hear what I have to say. You guys saw the game. Completely…. that’s for everyone to see,” Goorjian, who received a technical foul, said to reporters last Wednesday.
They have until noon last Thursday to make a switch. According to Dragons team manager Maya Montecillo, they have no intention of sitting down their power forward, Andrew Nicholson. Nicholson injured his left ankle during game 3.
In the meantime, Powell is allowed to play as long as he conforms to the league’s arrangements.
OKBET Odds
On the OKBET site, the Gin Kings are slated to close the series in Friday’s game 4. The odds are 1.80 – 1.96. Ginebra is leading in this five-game series, 2-1, while the Dragons are hoping to extend it to game 5.
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