Alaska Aces Crowned 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup Champions!

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 On Sunday, May 19, the Alaska Aces swept their finals series against the Brgy. Ginebra Kings to win their 14th title in the Philippine Basketball Association. The Aces staged a late surge to pull ahead of their competition despite being down for majority of the first three quarters after they went on a 20-3 run at the mid-point of the final quarter. The game ended with 104-80 on the scoreboard, completing the sweep in this Best-of-5 Finals series. Alaska won Game 1 in an 87-70 game and they also won convincingly during Game 2 with via a 104-90 win.

Alaska Aces' 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup trophy is third first in three years and also Luigi Trillo's first championship trophy after taking over the head coaching stint for the Aces, following in the footsteps of Tim Cone and Joe Banal. The championship sweep came before a record crowd attendance at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.


Sonny Thoss was named the Finals MVP after he averaged 14 points. But more importantly, Thoss played a crucial role in putting a stop to Ginebra import Vernon Macklin's dominance inside the paint. Aside from Thoss, rookie Calvin "The Beast" Abueva and JVee Casio also contributed to the scoring frenzy for the Aces that helped them put their competition aside in all of the games played throughout the series. On the flip side, Mark Caguioa and the rest of the Brgy. Ginebra Kings failed to sink the ball into the basket during their many attempts at the 6-minute stage of the fourth quarter.

This conference was dominated by the Alaska Aces from the get-go. They were at the top of the team standings by the end of the Elimination Round, which earned them a twice-to-beat advantage over the #8 team, Air 21 Express. Eventually, they capitalized on that and eliminated Air 21 even after just one game. They also met with the San Mig Coffee Mixers during Semifinals Round, but they emerged victorious after four games.

What do you think was the reason that Brgy. Ginebra was unable to clinch even a single win in this series?