Burton fuels record rout

MANILA, Philippines —  When NLEX needed a replacement for injured DeQuan Jones last August just before the PBA Governors’ Cup went on a 53-day break, coach Jimmy Alapag didn’t look too far.

He turned to Deonte Burton, one of his charges during his stints as player development coach with the Sacramento Kings in the NBA and its G-League squad, Stockton.

Last night, Alapag and the Road Warriors unleashed Burton against the Macau Giant Pandas.

He was as good as advertised.

Logging a near quadruple-double debut of 22 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and six steals in just 24 minutes of playing time, Burton powered NLEX to a record-setting 138-78 rout of the Giant Pandas last night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The 60-point annihilation put the Road Warriors in the league’s history book as the new owner of the biggest winning margin of all time, bumping off Rain or Shine, which recorded a 56-point blowout of Blackwater (151-95) last March 31 in the previous Commissioner’s Cup.

It also sent NLEX (8-2) into the quarterfinals with two games to spare in Group A. The Giant Pandas fell to 2-7.

Burton wasted little time making an impact, firing 16 in the opening period as the Road Warriors raced to a 38-23 start.

“We’re fortunate DB was available and came to join us for the rest of the conference. Super excited to have him. We worked together before and I know the type of player and the type of person he is and I think he fits our team,” said Alapag.

Burton missed out on what could’ve been the league’s first-ever quadruple-double as he sat out the entire fourth period.

“I’ll get it next time,” he said in jest.

Schonny Winston (team-high 25), Robert Bolick (14), Kevin Alas (10), LJ Gonzales (10) and Tony Semerad (10) joined Burton in the scoring efforts.

Later, Calvin Oftana sizzled with 31 in his conference debut to lead defending champion TNT to a 116-92 rout of Terrafirma.

The Tropang 5G improved to 5-4 while sending the Dyip to 3-6.

Alapag said coming off the long hiatus, the main concern was how to get the squad to go back to action with the right frame of mind.

“My message to them was, we know what we’re preparing for after tonight  – we have two games left before quarterfinals,” he said.

“I want our guys’ mindset and focus to understand what we have ahead of us, and obviously not to look past Macau, even with this long break to come with the right mindset, focus, and right effort. I thought we did that tonight.”