Return of the Kings: Ginebra Win Game 7 to End Their Title Drought

Barangay Ginebra are champions of the Philippines once again. The Gin Kings ended a three-year, seven-conference title drought by beating TNT 88-76 in a Game 7 to remember in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner's Cup Finals, before a packed Mall of Asia Arena.
It was Ginebra's 16th PBA crown and first since the 2022-23 Commissioner's Cup, and it extended Tim Cone's league record to 26 championships as a coach as the Kings closed out the best-of-seven series 4-3 in front of 24,617 fans. The decisive blows came down the stretch: with the gap trimmed to three, Nards Pinto on the floor after Rhon Jhay Abarrientos (181-G-1999) was sidelined by a flagrant foul drilled a corner three to steady Ginebra at 80-74 with just over three minutes left. Rhon Jhay Abarrientos soon returned and answered with a three of his own to push the lead to nine inside the final two minutes, sending the Ginebra faithful into a frenzy.
Scottie Thompson (188-G-1993) was at the heart of it, bucking a nagging hamstring injury to claim the Ramon Fernandez Finals MVP award. The guard delivered a near triple-double in the clincher 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and averaged 10.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.3 steals across the series. It was a third Finals MVP for the 32-year-old, after the 2018 Commissioner's Cup and 2021 Governors' Cup, an honor he called unexpected. He edged teammates Jeth Troy Rosario (201-F-1992) and Rhon Jhay Abarrientos for the award.