RJ Abarrientos was limited to a conference-low six points on Sunday - a testament to the hard work done by Magnolia's defense in their one-sided victory over Barangay Ginebra in the PBA 50th Season Governors’ Cup.
Abarrientos was 2-of-9 from the field, and 0-of-3 from three-point range - just two days removed from hitting his conference-high 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from threes in an 84-75 win over Meralco.
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Magnolia coach LA Tenorio said there was a conscious effort to limit Abarrientos’ production.
“Kung meron man nakakakilala kay RJ sa kanila sa court, sa team, I think ako siguro ‘yun,” Tenorio said during the postgame press conference.
Magnolia faced Abarrientos for the first time since he won the Best Player of the Conference award in the Commissioner’s Cup, where the Ginebra guard scored the game-winning lay-up in a 91-89 win over the Hotshots last April 10.
For this ‘Manila Clasico’, Magnolia made sure there won’t be a repeat.
“RJ is a superstar,” Tenorio said of the guard that he backed up during his final year as a Ginebra player in the Season 49. “We cannot just play him straight up or play him normal. We treat him like an import. I have so much respect for RJ. I know him.”
Magnolia's defense actually contained a lot of players including import Riley Grigsby, who produced his lowest scoring output of the conference with 15 points, while shooting 5-of-19 from the field.
As a team, Ginebra only shot 39 percent, second worst for the conference behind the 33 percent it shot against Phoenix Super LPG in its debut.
“I have to go back to all the players who guarded the whole team (Magnolia). We were very disciplined with our game plan. ‘Yun ang maganda sa amin today," Tenorio said.
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