Hotshots win by landslide

MANILA, Philippines — Magnolia took flight with new import Jabari Bird and clawed the equalizer on the road.

Getting comfortable with the debuting Bird rather quickly while pouncing on the early exit of his counterpart Aaron Fuller, the Hotshots ripped Rain or Shine, 121-69, to tie up the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinal series at 1-1 last night in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

The fired up Hotshots unleashed a dominant 32-5 salvo in the second quarter to seize a sizeable upperhand against an Elasto Painters crew that struggled big-time with Fuller stuck on the bench.

Fuller sustained a swollen left eye from a poke with 30 seconds left in the first canto. He accounted for four points, four rebounds and two assists in 11 minutes of action as Bird logged 22 points on a 10-of-15 clip, 13 rebounds, two assists and only one turnover in his maiden appearance.

“He’s a big factor tonight,” said coach Chito Victolero of the 6-foot-4 Bird, son of Royal Tru Orange’s reinforcement Carl Bird in 1976 who assumed import duties after Glenn Robinson III, Shabazz Muhammad and Rayvonte Rice.

“It’s not the numbers but it’s all about the aura, the positive vibes of Jabari. I told him we just need his contribution on the little things – defense rebounding and positive energy which is naibigay naman niya sa amin in this game,” he added.

The new arrival’s upbeat attitude rubbed off on the locals, who also delivered in accomplishing the Hotshots’ strike-back plans after ROS jumped the gun in Game 1, 109-105.

“Na-appareciate ko ang locals namin. Hindi sila nag-give up even though we have some problems with our import,” said Victolero.

The 52-point win marked the second all-time biggest margin by the Hotshots franchise and by any team in the PBA playoffs, next only to Star’s (now Magnolia) 126-73 rout of GlobalPort in the 2015 GC quarterfinals.

Magnolia held ROS to a measly 28-percent shooting (23 of 82) while totally dominating the rebounding battle, 67-37, and scoring inside the paint, 78-24, without Fuller.

DeQuan Jones (38-12) made the big endgame plays as NLEX similarly drew level with TNT in their side of the quarters via a 93-90 Game 2 verdict.