The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings are on the brink of reaching the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals after a comprehensive 127-100 victory over the NorthPort Batang Pier on Sunday, March 2, at the Araneta Coliseum.

The huge victory gave the Gin Kings a 3-0 lead in their best-of-7 series.

Ginebra broke the game open in the second quarter, where they outscored NorthPort 34-19 to head into halftime with a massive 64-40 advantage.

Their lead would balloon to 38 points, 112-74, early in the fourth quarter off a Maverick Ahanmisi triple.

So comfortable was Ginebra’s lead that Tim Cone had the luxury of resting his starters.

Justin Brownlee needed just 30 minutes to reach 22 points, while Japeth Aguilar, Scottie Thompson, Troy Rosario, and Stephen Holt all played fewer than 25 minutes.

Jamie Malonzo led Ginebra in scoring, putting up 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting in just 23 minutes of action.

RJ Abarrientos added a 10-point, 10-assist double-double.

Meanwhile, it was another lethargic performance from a NorthPort squad that entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed.

Import Kadeem Jack led the Batang Pier with 32 points, while Arvin Tolentio had 15.

NorthPort simply had no answer for the Gin Kings, however.

The crowd favorites shot 53.7 percent from the field, including a blistering 14-of-24 from three-point range.

In contrast, Batang Pier went 7-of-26 from beyond the arc and had just 33 rebounds to Ginebra’s 51. (ABS-CBN News)

GINEBRA 127 — Malonzo 25, Brownlee 22, J. Aguilar 17, Thompson 15, Abarrientos 10, Rosario 10, Ahanmisi 6, Holt 5, Pessumal 4, Gray 4, R. Aguilar 3, Adamos 2, Mariano 2, Tenorio 2, Cu 0, Pinto 0.

NORTHPORT 100 — Jack 32, Tolentino 15, Taha 11, Yu 6, Miranda 6, Bulanadi 6, Munzon 5, Cuntapay 5, Flores 4, Nelle 3, Navarro 3, Tratter 2, Onwubere 2.

Quarterscores: 30-21, 64-40, 99-68, 127-100.