# 1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup finals

The 1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup finals was the best-of-7 series basketball championship of the 1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The Gordon's Gin Boars and Alaska Milkmen played for the 67th championship contested by the league.
Gordon's Gin Boars finally ended a six-year title drought, winning their finals series over Alaska Milkmen, 4 games to 2.

## Qualification

| Gordon's Gin | Gordon's Gin | Alaska | Alaska |
| Finished 6–4 (.600), tied for 1st | Eliminations | Eliminations | Finished 5–5 (.500), 5th |
| Finished 11–7 (.611), tied for 1st | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finished 11–7 (.611), tied for 1st, and, +12 in overall point differential over San Miguel |
| Won against San Miguel, 106–100 | Playoff | Playoff | | Finished 11–7 (.611), tied for 1st, and, +12 in overall point differential over San Miguel |

## Series scoring summary

| Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Wins |
| Gordon's Gin | 99 | 102 | 87 | 90 | 81 | 105 | 4 |
| Alaska | 89 | 96 | 86 | 108 | 86 | 79 | 2 |
| Venue | Cuneta | Araneta | Cuneta | Cuneta | Araneta | Cuneta | |

## Games summary
### Game 1

* VTV
* August 26 7:30 pm
Gordon's Gin Boars 99, Alaska Milkmen 89 :
| Scoring by quarter: 21–26, 24–18, 22–20, 32–25 |||
| Pts: Chris King 40 Rebs: Chris King 13 Asts: King 10 | Pts: Johnny Abarrientos 23 Rebs: Kevin Holland 18 Asts: Abarrientos, Hawkins 5 |
| Gordon's Gin leads series, 1–0 |||
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
Chris King registered a triple-double of 40 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, as he figured in Gordon's key third quarter assault when they grabbed a 55–52 lead. Alaska had one last chance to stage a reversal late in the game but King took command, giving the Boars a 94–84 bubble with a minute to go.

### Game 2

* VTV
* August 29 7:00 pm
Gordon's Gin Boars 102, Alaska Milkmen 96 :
* Gordon's Gin leads series, 2–0 ||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Chris King, despite suffering a pulled left hamstring, never gave up, he hits the dagger three-pointer from a Marlou Aquino pass with 37.2 seconds left to give the Boars a four-point lead. Doctors later found out that King had a strained ligament and a partial tear on his left hamstring.

### Game 3

* VTV
* August 31 6:00 pm
Gordon's Gin Boars 87, Alaska Milkmen 86 :
| Scoring by quarter: 12–18, 24–21, 26–17, 25–30 |||
| Pts: Pido Jarencio 23 Rebs: Terry Saldaña 12 Asts: Aquino 5 | Pts: Kevin Holland 23 Rebs: Kevin Holland 14 Asts: Abarrientos 10 |
| Gordon's Gin leads series, 3–0 |||
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
The Boars pulled through a down-the-wire final minute with import Chris King's inside basket and Pido Jarencio's key triple as the Milkmen succumbed to turnovers and missed attempts in their last possessions. Jarencio waxes hot with seven triples, five in the final half, on a 7-of-8 shooting from the three-point range. Alaska had one last crack to win the game but Dwight Lago's jumper went all air as Gordon's takes a 3–0 lead.

### Game 4

* VTV
* September 2 7:00 pm
Gordon's Gin Boars 90, Alaska Milkmen 108 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–17, 17–28, 22–35, 31–26 |||
| Pts: Noli Locsin 18 Rebs: Chris King, Wilmer Ong 5 Asts: King 6 | Pts: Johnny Abarrientos 24 Rebs: Kevin Holland 10 Asts: Abarrientos 4 |
| Gordon's Gin leads series, 3–1 |||
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

### Game 5

* VTV
* September 5 7:00 pm
Gordon's Gin Boars 81, Alaska Milkmen 86 :
| Scoring by quarter: 19–13, 14–26, 29–27, 19–20 |||
| Pts: Chris King 19 Rebs: Marlou Aquino 11 Asts: King 10 | Pts: Jojo Lastimosa 16 Rebs: Kevin Holland 15 Asts: Abarrientos 7 |
| Gordon's Gin leads series, 3–2 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

### Game 6

* VTV
* September 7 6:00 pm
Gordon's Gin Boars 105, Alaska Milkmen 79 :
* Pts: Chris King 24
* Gordon's Gin wins series, 4–2 ||
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
A decisive 33–5 run in the third quarter as the Boars' avalanche of points blew the game wide open. Gordon's steamrolled to a 30-point lead at 79–49, going into the fourth quarter, while limiting Alaska to an all-time lowest score of five points in a quarter.
* 1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup Champions
* Gordon's Gin Boars Fourth title

## Awards

* Finals MVP: Marlou Aquino (Gordon's Gin)
* Best Player of the Conference: Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)

## Broadcast notes

| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst | Courtside Reporter |
| Game 1 | Noli Eala | Andy Jao | |
| Game 2 | Ed Picson | Quinito Henson | Anthony Suntay and Butch Maniego |
| Game 3 | Chino Trinidad | Andy Jao | Anthony Suntay and Butch Maniego |
| Game 4 | Noli Eala | Quinito Henson | Anthony Suntay and Butch Maniego |
| Game 5 | Chino Trinidad | Andy Jao | |
| Game 6 | Ed Picson | Quinito Henson | Anthony Suntay, Butch Maniego and Randy Sacdalan |