Ginebra is one away from barging into the Finals, and a big part of that is 38-year-old point guard LA Tenorio, who is leading the barangay like only he can.
Today's Game 4 of the Manila Clasico semis will be LA Tenorio's 731st consecutive game. His recent play does not seem to show that.
In his 730th game, or Game 3 of series, he dropped a 20-piece on the Magnolia Hotshots in 31 hard-played minutes — with 4 assists and a team-high +27 plus-minus rating.
Tenorio’s Game 3 explosion is typical LA, stepping up once again in a most critical time — as both Ginebra and Magnolia sought to get that pivotal second win in this short best-of-five series. Tenorio’s 20 points anchored on four treys is a conference high, 14 more than the Gineral’s average in this Commissioner’s Cup. It is also his highest point total since April 22, when he poured in 30 to help Ginebra clinch the 2021 Governor’s Cup title.
That three point shot has been a huge weapon for Tenorio over these past few years. And Tinyente turning into a reliable marksman from deep shows how the veteran is adapting both to the game and to his role in Ginebra.
“The evolution of basketball, 'yun na 'yung game — palayuan pa nga ng tira sa three points, ‘di ba? 'Yun na yung laro ngayon e,” Tenorio pointed out in a recent episode of The Game. “And with all the talent that we have now, having a good import with Justin Brownlee, it will really open up all the guards . . . 'Yun na yung binibigay ng defense, so might as well take it and practice it more.”
Tinyente has been taking those three point shots, indeed, and he has been making them. His four triples in Game 3, in fact, pushed his career makes to 1,186 — just 56 treys away from tying Allan Caidic at second place all time for three-point shots made. Tenorio was just fifth on that list when the playoffs started with 1,170 makes, which means he has hiked his total by 16 in just 5 games.
That is a going rate of 3.2 triples per game, hardly the mark of a man slowing down. On the contrary, Tenorio seems to be holding off Father Time, as he is now on the verge of helping Barangay Ginebra to another Finals stint.