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The 2001 PBA Commissioner's Cup finals was the best-of-7 championship series of the 2001 PBA Commissioner's Cup and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The Red Bull Thunder and San Miguel Beermen played for the 79th championship contested by the league.[1][2]
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| Dates | August 12–24, 2001 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Television | Viva TV (IBC) | |||||||||
| Radio network | DZRV | |||||||||
Red Bull won the Commissioner's Cup title in only their second season and fifth conference. The Thunder defeated the Beermen, winners of five of the last six conferences, in game six for a 4-2 series victory.
Danny Ildefonso won on his second back-to-back season MVP in Commissioner's Cup.
Davonn Harp won on his first finals MVP in Commissioner's Cup finals.
| Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Bull | 80 | 92 | 91 | 72 | 79 | 75 | 4 |
| San Miguel | 78 | 86 | 100 | 88 | 77 | 69 | 2 |
Game 1
August 12 |
| Red Bull Thunder 80, San Miguel Beermen 78 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24-18, 21-27, 10-20, 25-13 | ||
| Pts: Antonio Lang 32 | Pts: Nate Johnson 26 | |
| Red Bull leads series, 1-0 | ||
The Thunder climbed from five points down, 73-78, after allowing the Beermen to dominate most of the second half. Antonio Lang and Davonn Harp hit three of their seven free throws in the final minute. San Miguel was nursing a 78-77 lead with 48 seconds left, after Danny Seigle missed a jumper in the ensuing play, Lang hit an undergoal stab from a Junthy Valenzuela pass and drew Nate Johnson's sixth foul with 5.1 seconds left. Red Bull was holding a 79-78 lead when Lang missed his bonus shot but Harp got the rebound, causing Olsen Racela to foul him with 3.5 seconds remaining, Harp made only his first. After a San Miguel timeout, Danny Seigle missed on a drive as time expired.
Game 2
August 15 |
| Red Bull Thunder 92, San Miguel Beermen 86 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23-18, 13-24, 31-18, 25-26 | ||
| Pts: Junthy Valenzuela 25 | Pts: Nate Johnson 24 | |
| Red Bull leads series, 2-0 | ||
Junthy Valenzuela hit seven triples, five of them in the second half, to frustrate San Miguel. Antonio Lang also shone on Red Bull's free-wheeling offense, making 20 points and includes a highlight double-pump that drew a foul from Danny Ildefonso with 1:31 left that gave the Thunder an 85-76 lead. Lang's superb game got the ire of Nic Belasco, who hackled him underneath while taking a shot, causing a near free-for-all with eight minutes left in the game and Red Bull ahead, 74-66.
Game 3
August 17 |
| Red Bull Thunder 91, San Miguel Beermen 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19-23, 22-22, 32-26, 18-29 | ||
| Pts: Junthy Valenzuela 22 | Pts: Nate Johnson 31 | |
| Red Bull leads series, 2-1 | ||
San Miguel's Danny Ildefonso, Danny Seigle and Olsen Racela hit their free throws in the closing minutes to deflect Junthy Valenzuela's torrid three-point shooting in the third and fourth quarters. Valenzuela's last triple put Red Bull to within 86-88 with 2:08 left, which turned out to be the Thunder's last stand as the Beermen tightened their defenses going into the homestretch.
Game 4
August 19 |
| Red Bull Thunder 72, San Miguel Beermen 88 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20-15, 10-23, 26-24, 16-26 | ||
| Pts: Antonio Lang 24 | Pts: Danny Seigle 26 | |
| series tied at 2-2 | ||
San Miguel rode to a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter, Boybits Victoria sparked the run with a three-pointer with eight minutes left in the game, giving the Beermen a 65-62 lead despite the foul trouble of Nate Johnson, who got his fifth with 7:51 left. The Thunder lost Junthy Valenzuela early in the first quarter as he was thrown out for elbowing Johnson.
Game 5
August 22 |
| Red Bull Thunder 79, San Miguel Beermen 77 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25-26, 21-19, 18-14, 15-18 | ||
| Pts: Davonn Harp 17 | Pts: Nate Johnson 43 | |
| Red Bull leads series, 3-2 | ||
Red Bull threw a huge defensive blanket on San Miguel in the dying seconds to escape with a pulsating two-point victory. Willie Miller blocked Nate Johnson's point-blank attempt in the last 1.8 seconds, after getting the inbound pass from Dwight Lago in the shaded area. Johnson, who scored the largest output in the series with 43 points, was ganged up by Miller, Antonio Lang and Davonn Harp, confusion erupted after the final buzzer as players from both sides trash-talked their way to the dugout.[3]
Game 6
August 24 |
| Red Bull Thunder 75, San Miguel Beermen 69 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27-18, 17-23, 9-13, 22-15 | ||
| Pts: Antonio Lang 26 | Pts: Danny Seigle 22 | |
| Red Bull wins series, 4-2 | ||
San Miguel fell behind by 17 points in the second quarter, 18-35, but Danny Seigle orchestrated a comeback to keep the Beermen within striking distance. The Thunder outsteadied the Beermen in the endgame, from a 70-69 lead, Red Bull drew two points apiece from Davonn Harp and Ato Agustin before Antonio Lang's free throw iced Red Bull's title-clinching win. Junthy Valenzuela also stars when he blocked Danny Seigle's three-pointer in the closing seconds and then saved a sideline loose ball to preserve the victory. Davonn Harp won on his first sophomore Finals MVP and Batang Red Bull captures of this first championship crown title.[4]
| 2001 PBA Commissioners Cup Champions |
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Red Bull Thunder 1st title |
Red Bull's Junthy Valenzuela was fined P40,000 but escaped suspension following a flagrant foul on San Miguel import Nate Johnson in Game 4 of the finals wherein he was thrown out of the ballgame as early in the first quarter, previous to that, Valenzuela's teammate Kerby Raymundo was suspended for one game in the series.
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| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst | Phone Interview | Courtside Reporters, Pre-Game and Halftime Hosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | Noli Eala | Quinito Henson | ||
| Game 2 | Ed Picson | Chot Reyes | Perry Ronquillo | Paolo Trillo and Chiqui Roa-Puno |
| Game 3 | Anthony Suntay | TJ Manotoc | Tim Cone | Paolo Trillo, Jannelle So and Ronnie Nathanielsz |
| Game 4 | Noli Eala | Quinito Henson | ||
| Game 5 | Ed Picson | TJ Manotoc | ||
| Game 6 | Noli Eala | Quinito Henson |
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