IT’S LA Tenorio’s special day. And one need not to be a fortune-teller to guess what the birthday wish is of the longtime Barangay Ginebra leader.
“Wala akong hinihinging pa-birthday, pero sana naman maibigay sa akin yung Game 7,” Tenorio shared to SPIN.ph, as he turned another chapter on the book of his life on Wednesday.
Ginebra and San Miguel play the game of their lives on the day Tenorio turns 41, with a finals berth at stake no less in their sudden-death match in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Winner of the 7:30 p.m. semis duel will face early finalist and Grand Slam-seeking TNT in the best-of-seven title duel set to start on Sunday.
But even prior to his birthday, the veteran guard out of Ateneo already had his special moment in the aftermath of his valiant effort to save the Gin Kings’ season behind a mindblowing Game 6 performance that netted a thrilling 88-87 win and forged only the second Game 7 in the Ginebra-SMB rivalry.
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Tenorio scored all of his 11 points inside the final seven minutes, including the dagger three in the final two seconds that deflated the top-seeded Beermen.
He hopes his luck doesn’t end there.
“Sana hindi lang yun (Game 6) advance happy birthday sa akin. Sana tuluy-tuloy sa Wednesday,” said the four-time Finals MVP.
There's a first time for everything
Tenorio has played in previous games during his birthday, but a Game 7 that falls right on his natal day would be his first.
“Oo first time. Na-timing,” he said.
“So sana maibigay sa atin na pa-birthday,” Tenorio added. “Hopefully, we’ll pray.”
In the three games he played in the semis so far, Tenorio averaged nine minutes per outing with 5.0 points and 1.0 assist, while shooting 50-percent from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point distance.
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