The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel flat-out dominated the heavily-favored San Miguel Beermen in the opening salvo of the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Friday night, for an early lead in their best-of-seven series.
It was a completely lopsided show in favor of the Gin Kings; their lead nearly hit 40 points late in the game thanks mainly to their hot shooting from the floor – they shot a whopping 61.4 percent en route to the 127-99 win.
“‘Di ko alam kung paano ide-describe ito – it was a great, amazing game. It was a great game for us,” said floor general LA Tenorio of their victory, where he contributed nine points, eight assists, three rebounds, and two steals.
The 12-year pro added that he and Ginebra had never thought that Game One would be such a breeze for them, given that the Beermen notch their game up higher come playoff time – Ginebra simply outplayed the defending champs.
“Well, kami mismo hindi naman namin ine-expect na ganoon yung magiging result ng game,” said the three-time Finals Most Valuable Player, who is aiming for his fourth title.
“Siyempre, we’ll take it, yung ganitong klaseng game.”
But as much as Friday night was full of positives for Ginebra, Tenorio was quick to downplay the Gin Kings’ achievement, saying that their 1-0 lead in the series means almost nothing, especially versus San Miguel.
“This is nothing,” he said.
“Thirty-point lead, 30, 40, 50, it’s just the same. It’s just a 1-0 lead, hindi naman kami nabigyan ng 2-0 dito. We still have a lot of things to do and we’re really expecting San Miguel to come out really, really strong in Game Two,” he asserted.
“This is not the same San Miguel team that we’re going to face again for sure the next time around. We expect them to come out really, really strong next game.”
