LA Tenorio suffered a groin injury at the tailend of the first half of Game 5 between Barangay Ginebra and Bay Area Dragons, reason why he wasn't on the court at crunchtime as the Kings wrapped up the 101-91 win on Sunday.
Tenorio apparently went down with the injury just before halftime of the pivotal game at the Mall of Asia Arena.
READ: Pringle inspires Ginebra to Game 5 win
The veteran guard tried to play a few minutes at the start of the second half but asked coach Tim Cone to take him out shortly after. He finished with eight points and three assits as the Kings took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
"He got some theraphy at halftime and he said he felt OK and he could play. And I asked him if he want to start and he said, `Yes I want to start and try it out," recalled Cone of his conversation with Tenorio.
"And then after the first possession, he said no more, I can’t do it."
"Hopefully we can have him [back] fast enough," said Cone of Tenorio's situation. "That we didn't damage him for the rest of the series,"
Game Six won't be played until Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, and Cone said the 38-year-old Tenorio could use the couple of days to rest the injury.
"But we won’t really know that until tomorrow (Monday) when he can get through the therapy and the swelling, and then we’ll see how he’s walking and moving (tomorrow),: said the Ginebra coach.
"Groin problem like hamstring, is that if you continue playing and stretch it worse, they can take quite a while for them to heal."
Prior to Game 5, Tenorio averaged 12.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.
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