Ginebra's Surprising Loss to Magnolia: An Eye-Opener

The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings looked like a team that was about to wreak havoc in Clark. Until the Bubble Clasico happened.

On Sunday, the Gin Kings suffered a 102-92 loss at the hands of the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok for this year's lone edition of the Manila Clasico. While the game was a source of excitement for fans of both teams considering what has transpired inside the Clark bubble for the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup, it also became an eye-opener especially for the Gin Kings who just lost for the first time in five games this conference. They even held a 10-point lead early on but the "faster" guard-heavy line-up of the Hotshots was able to turn things around. 

For starters, Ginebra was averaging 25 fourth-quarter points in their first four games of the all-Filipino conference but against Magnolia, the Gin Kings could only muster 15 points in the final 12 minutes of the game. Throughout the fourth quarter, Ginebra was able to stick within striking distance but couldn't get over the hump and fell as much as 13 points after Mark Barroca drilled a three-pointer with 25 seconds to go. It also didn't Ginebra's cause that Jackson Corpuz played arguably one of his best games thus far inside the bubble as Corpuz finished with 20 points and six rebounds. While Japeth Aguilar was able to put up 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench, Prince Caperal was almost a non-factor as he only finished with six points in a conference where he is averaging 13 points per game. 

Another eye-opener in Sunday's slugfest between Ginebra and Magnolia is that Magnolia guards can indeed make things hard for opponents as Barroca and Paul Lee combined for six of the Hotshots' eight steals in the game. Both guards finished with 15 points while Jio Jalalon had nine points and 10 assists. Chris Banchero added 10 points. In contrast, Stanley Pringle may have scored 24 points but he, Scottie Thompson, and LA Tenorio combined for seven of the Gin Kings' 17 turnovers. 

While the Gin Kings contained  the three-point shooting of Magnolia, they were outscored by the Hotshots in the following crucial departments:

 - 17-10 in points off turnovers

- 11- 8 in fast-break points

- 19-15 in second-chance points

Ginebra did shoot 38% from the three-point line but that wasn't enough. 

Fortunately, it's just one game and Ginebra is still one of the top contenders for the Philippine Cup. As painful as it was for them to lose against Magnolia, Sunday's lone game served as an eye-opener that one game, you can be good and in the next one, you will be caught off-guard by a surging team.  

Photo is from ESPN