Barangay Ginebra Kings off to a royal start

Christmas Day romp over hotshots

BOCAUE, Bulacan, Philippines — It’s a season of giving and winning for the Barangay Ginebra Kings.

The Kings kept the season’s spirit of giving and leaned on a growing tradition of winning on Christmas Day, trouncing the Magnolia Hotshots, 89-78, for a rousing debut in PBA Season 43 in the Philippine Cup before a crowd of over 22,000 at the Philippine Arena here.

The Kings dished out top form despite coming off a two-month layoff following a rousing title victory over the Meralco Bolts in Game 7 of the Governor’s Cup that drew record crowds here, pulling away midway in the fourth to make it four in row over the Hotshots in their Christmas Day matchup while providing the fans another treat on this very special day.

Greg Slaughter dominated at the paint, LA Tenorio sizzled with a wondrous job in the backcourt and the rest of the Kings backed them up with superb games to cool down the Hotshots and post what was actually their eighth straight victory that improved Ginebra’s record to 10-1 in Christmas Day games.

“To be honest, I’m surprised how well we played. We’re not perfect but we played with a great energy,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

“Coming off a championship, it’s a perfect storm for us to get beat. But Greg was absolutely dominant out there. LA was smart with his passes and plays. Then Japeth (Aguilar) and Greg had each other’s back,” Cone added.

Slaughter literally threw his weight around in collecting 24 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and two assists while Tenorio came away with 15 markers, eight dish-offs, five steals and five rebounds.

Tenorio’s best feeds were a pair of lob passes which Aguilar jammed in to the delight of the crowd.

Earlier, Kiefer Ravena continued to live up to the hype, draining a dagger trey and soaring high for a jam to highlight another stellar performance as NLEX drubbed GlobalPort, 115-104, for a second straight win.

Moments after missing a dunk off Kelly Nabong, Ravena soared again and converted a breakaway slam that best typified the Road Warriors’ persistence and courage in a big follow-up to their 119-115 victory over the Kia Picanto in their season debut last week.

“Kiefer will take care of himself,” said NLEX coach Yeng Guiao, so impressed by their prized rookie.

As for the team, Guiao acknowledged the breaks NLEX has enjoyed thus far, including the absence of GlobalPort top gun Terrence Romeo.

“Just with Stanley Pringle, we had a handful. It’s difficult to devise a way of defending Pringle. What more if Terrence was there,” said Guiao.