James Farr had his best game in the PBA Sunday when Magnolia faced Ginebra in another Manila Clasico tiff.
The American import unloaded a PBA career-high 34 points on a 64-percent clip from the field, along with 21 rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and a steal in 41 minutes and 28 seconds of play.
But it, unfortunately, became just a mere afterthought as the Hotshots got blown out by the Gin Kings, 81-102.
“If you lose, it doesn’t matter.
“All I wanna do is win. It’s good to have that many points but if you don’t win, it doesn’t matter,” Farr told Tiebreaker Times moments after the match.
For Farr, what cost Magnolia the match had been their effort on defense. He rued that they gave Ginebra lots of offensive rebounds as well as allowed them to run in transition and convert.
Fifteen of Ginebra’s 56 boards came on the offensive end. And they scored nine points off fastbreaks, with the last two in the final minute that gave the Gin Kings their biggest lead of the game at 23.
“Our transition defense and our defensive rebounding. We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds and let them get a lot of transition points,” lamented the 26-year-old product of Xavier.
Farr said that the Hotshots were actually doing their job nicely on those aspects during their five-game winning streak, but he feels that they have “slipped” on it in their last two outings.
Prior to Sunday, Magnolia also lost to Roi Sumang and the Blackwater Elite in overtime, 99-104, last Friday.
“We won five games straight because we locked down on those things. But these last two games, we kinda slipped,” said Farr, the Hotshots’ second import after John Fields got hurt prior to the tilt.
The Hotshots still have two more games left in the elimination round, and Farr is keen on getting back on track this Wednesday when they take on the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
A win over Rain or Shine — who is expected to parade new import in Carl Montgomery on Wednesday as Denzel Bowles got hurt — would assure Magnolia of a spot in the quarterfinals.
“You know, you win some, you lose some. You have good moments, you have down moments. But we’re thankful to have another day to bounce back,” said the three-year pro.
“We play again on Wednesday, we’ll see how it goes.”
