Jordan Murphy impressed right in his first PBA game as Ginebra vengefully clobbered Rain or Shine, 129-111, in a strong resumption to its Season 50 Governors’ Cup campaign at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Friday night.
Brought in to replace Riley Grigsby, the 29-year-old American winger finished with 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting, 13 rebounds, and seven assists as he helped in the Kings’ 40-19 start that set the tone for the lopsided show.
Murphy also had a steal and four blocks in a turnover-less performance, showing how good of a fit he is for a team hoping to find its footing after winning just twice in their first six games with the previous reinforcement.
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“Jordan was great. He gave us a good lift, especially early in the game,” said head coach Tim Cone. “We’re obviously pleased with the way Jordan played. He fills our hole. He’s a guy that can get in and out, rebound, and defend.
“He’s a complete player,” the champion bench tactician added. “We just hope that we can continue to build off this. Again, this was a big one.”
The crowd darlings have improved to 3-4 in Group B, in the process barging into the Top Four behind Magnolia, the Elasto Painters, and Phoenix.
And they could make things even more interesting in the pool when they take on the Hotshots this Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. The latter remained atop the standings with a 5-3 record after beating Blackwater earlier.
“Every game is a playoff game for us right now. And we understand that. We started the conference at 2-4, and we kinda shot ourselves in the foot, and we had no one to blame but ourselves. We need to pick it up,” Cone said.
RJ Abarrientos top-scored for Ginebra with a conference-high 34 points and nine assists, shooting 6-of-11 from deep and 3-of-6 from four-point territory.
Stephen Holt had 14 points behind a quarter of triples, all during the opening period alone, which helped Ginebra gain control of the match. The Elasto Painters found no way to retaliate, leading to the rout.
“I think we just kinda caught them unaware in that first quarter and we were able to play from there,” said Cone, as they hit half of their 16 threes in that period.
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Aaron Fuller, on the other hand, led Rain or Shine with 23 points and 13 rebounds against nine turnovers in the humiliating defeat. The team also snapped their four-game winning streak, dropping their win-loss record to 4-3.
It was a harsh beating for the Elasto Painters, knowing that they beat this team big, 110-99, last July 26, when the Kings still had Grigsby in tow.
The Scores:
Ginebra 129 – Abarrientos 34, Murphy 30, Holt 14, Rosario 14, J. Aguilar 8, Cu 8, Go 7, Gray 6, Thompson 6, Torres 2.
Rain or Shine 111 – Fuller 23, Cuajao 19, Nocum 15, Malonzo 14, Caracut 12, Tiongson 8, Pringle 7, Clarito 5.
Quarterscores: 40-19, 73-46, 106-75, 129-111.
