# 2022–23 PBA Commissioner's Cup finals

The 2022–23 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup finals was the best-of-7 championship series of the 2022–23 PBA Commissioner's Cup, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and guest team Bay Area Dragons competed for the 20th Commissioner's Cup championship and the 132nd overall championship contested by the league.
The Bay Area Dragons are the first guest team since 1980 to appear in the PBA finals, while this is the second time in the past three Commissioner's Cup tournaments that Barangay Ginebra appeared in a Commissioner's Cup finals; they previously won the title in 2018 where they defeated the San Miguel Beermen in six games. Barangay Ginebra defeated Bay Area in seven games to claim their third Commissioner's Cup title in franchise history. Christian Standhardinger was named the finals MVP for this series.

## Background
### Road to the finals

| Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | | Bay Area Dragons |
| Finished 9–3 (.750) in 3rd place | Elimination round | Finished 10–2 (.833) in 1st place with Magnolia |
| — | Tiebreaker | Head-to-head record: Bay Area 1–0 Magnolia (1st place) |
| Def. NorthPort, 2–0 (best-of-three) | Quarterfinals | Def. Rain or Shine in one game (twice-to-beat advantage) |
| Def. Magnolia, 3–1 | Semifinals | Def. San Miguel, 3–1 |

### Head-to-head matchup

* TV5
* October 9, 2022 6:45 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 111, Bay Area Dragons 93 :
| Scoring by quarter: 26–28, 24–20, 35–18, 26–27 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 46 Rebs: Brownlee 12 Asts: Thompson 5 | Pts: Nicholson 28 Rebs: Nicholson 12 Asts: Yang 4 |
* PhilSports Arena, Pasig Referees: Nol Quilinguen, Rommel Gruta, Mao Orioste, Kenny Hallig

## Series summary

| Game | Date | Venue | Winner | Result |
| Game 1 | December 25, 2022 | SM Mall of Asia Arena | Barangay Ginebra | 96–81 |
| Game 2 | December 28, 2022 | Smart Araneta Coliseum | Bay Area | 99–82 |
| Game 3 | January 4, 2023 | SM Mall of Asia Arena | Barangay Ginebra | 89–82 |
| Game 4 | January 6, 2023 | SM Mall of Asia Arena | Bay Area | 94–86 |
| Game 5 | January 8, 2023 | SM Mall of Asia Arena | Barangay Ginebra | 101–91 |
| Game 6 | January 11, 2023 | Smart Araneta Coliseum | Bay Area | 87–84 |
| Game 7 | January 15, 2023 | Philippine Arena | Barangay Ginebra | 114–99 |

## Game summaries
### Game 1

* TV5
* December 25, 2022 5:00 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 96, Bay Area Dragons 81 :
| Scoring by quarter: 22–25, 23–15, 27–24, 24–17 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 28 Rebs: Brownlee 13 Asts: Brownlee, Thompson 6 | Pts: Nicholson 27 Rebs: Nicholson 12 Asts: Lam 6 |
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 1–0 |||
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 18,252 Referees: Jimmy Mariano, Sherwin Pineda, Albert Nubla, Niño Cortez

### Game 2

* TV5
* December 28, 2022 5:45 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 82, Bay Area Dragons 99 :
| Scoring by quarter: 16–22, 19–30, 25–16, 22–31 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 32 Rebs: Brownlee 11 Asts: Pinto, Tenorio 4 | Pts: Nicholson 30 Rebs: Nicholson 15 Asts: Yang 8 |
| Series tied, 1–1 |||
* Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 16,044 Referees: Rommel Gruta, Bing Oliva, Jerry Narandan, Joel Baldago

### Game 3

* TV5
* January 4, 2023 5:45 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 89, Bay Area Dragons 82 :
| Scoring by quarter: 16–16, 19–21, 21–26, 33–19 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 34 Rebs: Brownlee 17 Asts: Brownlee, Thompson 4 | Pts: Nicholson 23 Rebs: Nicholson 24 Asts: Yang 6 |
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 2–1 |||
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 15,004 Referees: Nol Quilinguen, Sherwin Pineda, Mike Flordeliza, Niño Barcenas

### Game 4

* TV5
* January 6, 2023 5:45 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 86, Bay Area Dragons 94 :
| Scoring by quarter: 19–19, 27–19, 15–22, 25–34 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 23 Rebs: Brownlee 13 Asts: Brownlee 11 | Pts: Lam 30 Rebs: Lam, Zhu 9 Asts: three players 4 |
| Series tied, 2–2 |||
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 17,236 Referees: Rommel Gruta, Bing Oliva, Janine Nicandro, Niño Cortez
Prior to the game, Barangay Ginebra's Scottie Thompson was awarded his second 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 third time.

### Game 5

* TV5
* January 8, 2023 5:45 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 101, Bay Area Dragons 91 :
| Scoring by quarter: 23–24, 31–19, 22–19, 25–29 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 37 Rebs: Brownlee, Malonzo 8 Asts: Thompson 8 | Pts: Blankley 29 Rebs: Liu 11 Asts: Song 5 |
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 3–2 |||
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 21,823 Referees: Jimmy Mariano, Rommel Gruta, Albert Nubla, Jeff Tantay

### Game 6

* TV5
* January 11, 2023 5:45 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 84, Bay Area Dragons 87 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–25, 22–25, 22–16, 20–21 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 37 Rebs: Brownlee 10 Asts: Brownlee 11 | Pts: Powell 29 Rebs: Reid 12 Asts: Zhu 10 |
| Series tied, 3–3 |||
* Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 22,361 Referees: Nol Quilinguen, Mike Flordeliza, Jerry Narandan, Joel Baldago
A day before the game, Bay Area's second import Myles Powell was reactivated in lieu of Andrew Nicholson who missed both games 4 and 5 due to an injury sustained during game 3.

### Game 7

* TV5
* January 15, 2023 5:45 pm
* Box score
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 114, Bay Area Dragons 99 :
| Scoring by quarter: 27–21, 34–18, 34–35, 19–25 |||
| Pts: Brownlee 34 Rebs: Malonzo 17 Asts: Brownlee 12 | Pts: Powell 29 Rebs: Liu 13 Asts: Powell 5 |
| Barangay Ginebra wins series, 4–3 |||
* Philippine Arena, Bocaue, Bulacan Attendance: 54,589 Referees: Nol Quilinguen, Rommel Gruta, Mike Flordeliza, Jerry Narandan
The game was initially scheduled on January 13, 2023, but was moved to January 15 due to 'popular demand'.
On January 12, long-time Barangay Ginebra import Justin Brownlee became a naturalized Filipino citizen.
The game set the highest attendance ever in a PBA finals game with 54,589.

## Rosters

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

## Broadcast notes

The Commissioner Cup Finals was aired on TV5 & One Sports with simulcast on PBA Rush, SMART Sports on Facebook, SMART GigaPlay App, and Radyo5 92.3 News FM (both in standard and high definition).
The PBA Rush broadcast provided English language coverage of the Finals.
The SMART Sports Facebook broadcast provided English-Filipino language coverage of the Finals.
| Game | TV5 and One Sports | TV5 and One Sports | TV5 and One Sports | PBA Rush | PBA Rush | PBA Rush | ShootAround Pre-Game Show | SMART Sports Facebook | SMART Sports Facebook | SMART Sports Facebook |
| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) | Courtside Reporters | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) | Courtside Reporters | Hosts | Play-by-play | Analyst | Courtside Reporters |
| Game 1 | Magoo Marjon | Joaquin Henson and Norman Black | Apple David | Carlo Pamintuan | Charles Tiu | Belle Gregorio | Paolo del Rosario, Ryan Gregorio and Topex Robinson | Miguel Dypiangco | Eric Altamirano | Apple David |
| Game 2 | Sev Sarmenta | Joaquin Henson and Topex Robinson | Denise Tan | Carlo Pamintuan | Vince Hizon | Aiyana Perlas | Miguel Dypiangco, Ryan Gregorio, and Ronnie Magsanoc | Chiqui Reyes | Jude Roque | Denise Tan |
| Game 3 | Charlie Cuna | Ronnie Magsanoc | Apple David | Carlo Pamintuan | Dominic Uy | Doreen Suaybaguio | Paolo del Rosario, Ryan Gregorio, and Larry Fonacier | Jinno Rufino | Allan Gregorio | Apple David |
| Game 4 | Jutt Sulit | Dominic Uy and Aldin Ayo | Denise Tan | Chiqui Reyes | Eric Reyes | Doreen Suaybaguio | Paolo del Rosario and Ronnie Magsanoc | Carlo Pamintuan | Larry Fonacier | Denise Tan |
| Game 5 | Magoo Marjon | Andy Jao | Apple David | Carlo Pamintuan | Charles Tiu | Belle Gregorio | Paolo del Rosario and Ryan Gregorio | Mikee Reyes | Jolly Escobar | Apple David |
| Game 6 | Sev Sarmenta | Dominic Uy and Yeng Guiao | Denise Tan | Carlo Pamintuan | Andy Jao | Aiyana Perlas | Paolo del Rosario, Ryan Gregorio, and Gabe Norwood | Andre Co | Eric Reyes | Denise Tan |
| Game 7 | Charlie Cuna | Joaquin Henson and Norman Black | Bea Escudero | Carlo Pamintuan | Ryan Gregorio | Belle Gregorio | Paolo del Rosario, Ryan Gregorio, Dominic Uy, and Beau Belga | Mikee Reyes | Allan Gregorio | Bea Escudero |
* Additional Game 7 crew:
** Trophy presentation: Jutt Sulit
** Celebration interviewer: Bea Escudero and Belle Gregorio