Alaska Aces Snags One Over Ginebra, Leads Finals Series

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Alaska Aces is considered the underdog in the series in terms of the fans given that Brgy. Ginebra is the most popular team in the league. However, that was not enough to intimidate the Aces; in fact, it fired them up enough to open the Finals series against the Ginebra squad in a fiery blaze, giving them a 1-0 advantage in their Best-of-5 series for the PBA 2013 Commissioner's Cup trophy.

On Game 1 of the Finals series that kicked off yesterday, May 15, Alaska Aces ended up winning via an 87-70 rout before a crowd of over 19,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

According to Aces head coach Luigi Trillo, "[the win] is huge" because it boosted his team's confidence going into Game 2 and the rest of the series. Not only that, this win also marks its third win against Brgy. Ginebra for the 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup. However, he is not content with the way they played the game despite the win, as he notes they need to work better at making stops.

Ginebra put in only six points at the opening quarter of the game. This particular output has made it into the record books for being the lowest for any opening period and the third lowest of all-time in a single quarter. From there, Alaska rode their momentum for the rest of the game leading them to victory.

Luigi Trillo adds, "We need to play to our identity. They run-and-gun, get a lot of energy from the crowd when they do certain things...[but] we gave them six points in the first quarter. I think that's our identity, defense."

RJ Jazul lead Alaska in scoring with 16 points as Cyrus Baguio added his own 10 points. On the other hand, their import has played consistently throughout the conference and for Game 1 of the Finals, he chipped in 14 points along with 22 rebounds. Several other players scored in double figures for the Aces including Calvin Abueva, Jayvee Casio, and Sonny Thoss.

For the Kings, the story is much different. They had a paltry 26 for 84 field goal shooting percentage, although they managed to cut down the deficit to 11 with 2:51 left in the game. Vernon Macklin and LA Tenorio were the only bright spots for Ginebra wherein they scored 16 and 14 points, respectively.

If you want to see the rest of the PBA 2013 Finals schedule for the rest of the week, you can check it here.