By REYNALD MAGALLON
Barangay Ginebra is keeping its finger crossed as it awaits the results of the MRI on veteran guard LA Tenorio who sustained a groin injury late in the first half of its Game 5 win over Bay Area at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, Jan. 8.
Tenorio looked to be on his way to another solid outing for the Kings before sustaining the injury in the tail end of the second quarter and asking to be subbed out moments after.
The Kings skipper tried to play through the injury in the second half but immediately decided to call it a night with barely half a minute into the third frame.
Tenorio exited the contest with eight points, three rebounds and a steal.
“It’s a groin injury. And those are the worst. He scrambled for the loose ball, and he came up, and he felt his groin. Immediately, he wanted to come out of the game,” Cone revealed in the aftermath of the 101-91 win over the Dragons.
“He said he felt alright at halftime and he tried to go out. Within the first play, he could tell, ‘No, it’s not good,’ so he sat out the rest of the half. So, he really didn’t play the whole second half except for that first 10, 15 seconds,” he added.
In the absence of his top court general, Cone had to dig deep into his guard rotation giving extended minutes to Stanley Pringle and Nardz Pinto in the final two quarters of the contest.
As much as a dampener to the big win that put the Kings on cusp of claiming the Commissioner’s Cup title, the multi-titled mentor remains hopeful that the injury was nothing serious and he will have Tenorio back on the floor in Game 6 when Ginebra tries to close out the series.
Also in danger of getting snapped is Tenorio’s ‘PBA Ironman’ streak if he ends up not available for the next game. The 38-year-old guard played his 736th consecutive game in Game 5.
“Hopefully, we get him out fast enough that we don’t damage him for the rest of the series. He is so key to what we do, especially in the playoffs because he’s our leader, ball handler, organizer, big-shot guy, and emotional leader as well, so we’re gonna be missing all those things if he doesn’t get a chance to play,” said Cone.
