# 2021 PBA Governors' Cup finals

The 2021 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors' Cup finals (or PBA Season 46 Governors' Cup finals) was the best-of-7 championship series of the 2021 PBA Governors' Cup, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The playoffs were delayed into 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the Meralco Bolts competed for the 20th Governors' Cup championship and the 130th overall championship contested by the league. This was the fourth time that Barangay Ginebra and Meralco competed for the Governors' Cup championship in the span of six seasons. Barangay Ginebra won the three previous championships against Meralco in 2016, 2017, and 2019. Barangay Ginebra defeated Meralco in six games to win their fourth Governors' Cup title in five seasons. They are the lowest-seeded team since the San Miguel Beermen in the 2019 Commissioner's Cup to win a PBA title. Scottie Thompson was named the finals' MVP.

## Background
### Road to the finals

| Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | Meralco Bolts | Meralco Bolts |
| Finished 6–5 (.636) in 6th place | Elimination round | Elimination round | Finished 7–4 (.636) in 4th place |
| win over the other against Alaska | Tiebreaker | Tiebreaker | — |
| Def. TNT in two games (twice-to-win disadvantage) | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Def. San Miguel in one game (twice-to-beat advantage) |
| Def. NLEX, 3–1 | Semifinals | Semifinals | Def. Magnolia, 3–2 |

### Head-to-head matchup

* One Sports
* February 13, 2022 6:45 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 95, Meralco Bolts 101 :
| Scoring by quarter: 22–29, 24–16, 30–34, 19–22 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 27 Rebs: Brownlee 14 Asts: Pinto 9 | Pts: Bishop 30 Rebs: Bishop 13 Asts: Bishop, Newsome 7 |
* Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: Rommel Gruta, Bing Oliva, Mike Flordeliza, Gomer Obina

## Series summary

| Game | Date | Venue | Winner | Result |
| Game 1 | April 6, 2022 | Smart Araneta Coliseum | Meralco | 104–91 |
| Game 2 | April 8 | SM Mall of Asia Arena | Barangay Ginebra | 99–93 |
| Game 3 | April 10 | SM Mall of Asia Arena | Meralco | 83–74 |
| Game 4 | April 13 | Smart Araneta Coliseum | Barangay Ginebra | 95–84 |
| Game 5 | April 17 | Smart Araneta Coliseum | Barangay Ginebra | 115–110 |
| Game 6 | April 22 | SM Mall of Asia Arena | Barangay Ginebra | 103–92 |

## Game summaries
### Game 1

* One Sports
* April 6, 2022 6:00 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 91, Meralco Bolts 104 :
| Scoring by quarter: 23–25, 19–28, 18–25, 31–26 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 27 Rebs: Standhardinger 14 Asts: Thompson 10 | Pts: Maliksi 22 Rebs: Bishop 12 Asts: Newsome 7 |
| Meralco leads series, 1–0 |||
* Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 12,457 Referees: Jimmy Mariano, Sherwin Pineda, Albert Nubla, Joel Baldago

### Game 2

* One Sports
* April 8, 2022 6:00 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 99, Meralco Bolts 93 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–23, 40–19, 22–29, 17–22 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 36 Rebs: Brownlee 13 Asts: Brownlee 9 | Pts: Bishop 31 Rebs: Bishop 13 Asts: Black 6 |
| Series tied, 1–1 |||
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 12,248 Referees: Nol Quilingen, Mardy Montoya, Mike Flordeliza, Janine Nicandro

### Game 3

* One Sports
* April 10, 2022 6:30 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 74, Meralco Bolts 83 :
| Scoring by quarter: 27–22, 21–18, 13–22, 13–21 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 19 Rebs: Brownlee 15 Asts: Brownlee 7 | Pts: Bishop 30 Rebs: Bishop 16 Asts: Newsome 6 |
| Meralco leads series, 2–1 |||
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 16,104 Referees: Peter Balao, Sherwin Pineda, Rommel Gruta, Albert Nubla

### Game 4

Prior to the game, Barangay Ginebra's Scottie Thompson was awarded his first Best Player of the Conference award, and Barangay Ginebra import and Thompson's teammate Justin Brownlee was awarded the Best Import of the Conference award for the second time.
* One Sports
* April 13, 2022 6:00 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 95, Meralco Bolts 84 :
| Scoring by quarter: 24–21, 17–20, 27–13, 27–30 |||
| Pts: Brownlee, Thompson 27 Rebs: Brownlee 18 Asts: Brownlee 7 | Pts: Bishop 25 Rebs: Almazan, Black 9 Asts: Newsome 5 |
| Series tied, 2–2 |||
* Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 17,298 Referees: Peter Balao, Mardy Montoya, Mike Flordeliza, Niño Cortez

### Game 5

* One Sports
* April 17, 2022 6:30 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 115, Meralco Bolts 110 :
| Scoring by quarter: 25–22, 29–21, 28–30, 33 –37 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 40 Rebs: Brownlee 11 Asts: Thompson 11 | Pts: Bishop 30 Rebs: Bishop 15 Asts: Black, Newsome 5 |
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 3–2 |||
* Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 18,251 Referees: Nol Quilingen, Rommel Gruta, Mike Flordeliza, Albert Nubla

### Game 6

The game was initially scheduled on April 20, 2022, at Smart Araneta Coliseum, but was later postponed to April 22 as fire broke out in one area of the arena during the preliminary round of the 2021 PBA 3x3 season – Second conference Grand Finals earlier in the day.
* One Sports
* April 22, 2022 6:00 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 103, Meralco Bolts 92 :
| Scoring by quarter: 19–24, 28–23, 31–26, 25–19 |||
| Pts: Tenorio 30 Rebs: Brownlee 16 Asts: Brownlee 6 | Pts: Bishop 21 Rebs: Bishop 16 Asts: Newsome 6 |
| Barangay Ginebra wins series, 4–2 |||
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 20,224 Referees: Peter Balao, Sherwin Pineda, Mardy Montoya, Niño Cortez

## Rosters

* $^a$ Also serves as Barangay Ginebra's board governor.

## Broadcast notes

The Governors' Cup Finals was aired on TV5 with simulcast on PBA Rush (both in standard and high definition). TV5's radio arm, Radyo5 provided the radio play-by-play coverage. The One Sports network did not air games 1 and 2 as it aired the 2022 PVL Open Conference Finals, which happened on the same time as the PBA finals.
One Sports provided online livestreaming via the PusoPilipinas and Smart Sports Facebook pages using the TV5 and PBA Rush feeds respectively.
The PBA Rush broadcast provided English-language coverage of the Finals.
| Game | TV5 and One Sports | TV5 and One Sports | TV5 and One Sports | SMART Sports (English & Filipino) | SMART Sports (English & Filipino) |
| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) | Courtside reporters | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) |
| Game 1 | Charlie Cuna | Dominic Uy | Denise Tan and Ysa Chong | Jutt Sulit | Vince Hizon |
| Game 2 | Jutt Sulit | Joaquin Henson | Denise Tan and Eileen Shi | Carlo Pamintuan | Mark Molina |
| Game 3 | Magoo Marjon | Andy Jao | Denise Tan and Ysa Chong | Jinno Rufino | Jolly Escobar |
| Game 4 | Charlie Cuna | Andy Jao | Denise Tan and Ira Pablo-Neypes | Anthony Suntay | Vince Hizon |
| Game 5 | Sev Sarmenta | Dominic Uy | Denise Tan and Ysa Chong | Andre Co | Jolly Escobar |
| Game 6 | Magoo Marjon | Joaquin Henson | Denise Tan and Ira Pablo-Neypes | Jinno Rufino | Mark Molina |
* Additional Game 6 crew:
** Trophy presentation: Jutt Sulit
** Celebration interviewer: Denise Tan