BARANGAY Ginebra spoiled the PBA playoffs debut of import George King by running away with a 104-95 win over San Miguel Beer for a rousing start to the PBA Governors Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jordan Murphy dropped a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds in his own playoffs debut and got plenty of support from Scottie Thompson, RJ Abarrientos, and Isaac Go as Ginebra got off to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
King, the prolific San Miguel import, was held to just 20 points on 9-of-20 shooting after averaging 33 points for the entire elimination round.
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It’s his first quarterfinal stint in the league after two unsuccessful runs with Blackwater last season.
Nine-time MVP June Mar Fajardo also had a quiet night after being held to just three points by what Ginebra deputy Richard Del Rosario referred to as defending the 6-foot-11 center ‘by committee' by Japeth Aguilar, Isaac Go, and Norbert Torres.
"We wanted it to be a defensive battle. They were averaging 121 points coming to the series, so ngayon we held them down below 100, and that’s always favorable for us. May chance kaming manalo,” he said.
Thompson had 17 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, Abarrientos added 16 points and six assists, while Go had his best output for the season with 14 points on a 6-of-10 shooting from the field.
The Kings were in the lead for most of the night and pulled away for good when they opened the fourth quarter with an 18-4 run to take their largest lead of the game at 94-74.
Led by the 21 points of CJ Perez, San Miguel offered little resistance from there in a losing cause to start the series.
Don Trollano backed up Perez with 21 points, while Jericho Cruz added 17 in a huge off-the-bench contributions from both Adamson alumni.
The scores
Ginebra (104) -- Murphy 29, Thompson 17, Abarrientos 16, Go 14, Rosario 8, J.Aguilar 6, Gray 6, Holt 4, Cu 4, Torres 0, Pinto 0, Estil 0, Abis 0, R.Aguilar 0.
San Miguel (95) -- Perez 21, Trollano 21, King 20, Cruz 17, Brondial 8, Tautuaa 3, Fajardo 3, Ahanmkisi 2, Hernandez 0, Mantua 0, Calma 0, Teng 0.
Quarterscores: 25-26; 52-48; 76-70; 104-95.
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