The Magnolia Hotshots gave Shabazz Muhammad a rude welcome to the PBA as they dominated the San Miguel Beermen, 104-87, on Sunday at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City.
Muhammad, a five-year NBA veteran, gave a good account of himself in his debut for San Miguel, as he replaced Orlando Johnson as their reinforcement.
He put up 27 points and 17 rebounds, but made just 11 of 28 shots and committed eight of San Miguel's 17 turnovers in the game. On the other end, Paul Lee and Mike Harris were nearly unstoppable for the Hotshots.
Magnolia rebounded from its first loss of the PBA Governors' Cup and improved to 7-1, boosting their chances of securing a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinal. San Miguel, meanwhile, saw its brief two-game winning streak come to an end; they fell to 5-4 in the conference.
"We just tried to bounce back hard for this game. It's a character game for us," said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero. '"Yung pinagusapan namin was just we try to move forward."
"We know we had a bad start last game, although we finished strong, but kinapos kami. Pero on this game we talked about how we will start strong and we need to finish stronger," he added.
The Hotshots seized control of the game in the second quarter thanks to Lee, who exploded for 15 points in the period. His hot shooting from beyond the arc allowed Magnolia to pull away and build a 57-44 lead at the break.
Magnolia went on to lead by 24 points, 91-67, early in the fourth period as the Beermen were never able to get over the hump in the second half.
Lee finished with 26 points and made four of his eight three-point attempts. Harris also had 26 points to go along with 13 rebounds; Mark Barroca and Aris Dionisio each had 12 points. As a team, Magnolia made 48% of their shots and scored 29 points off San Miguel's turnovers.
CJ Perez had 18 points off the bench, and Vic Manuel contributed 16 points for the Beermen. June Mar Fajardo took just seven shots and finished with six points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
The Scores:
Magnolia 104 – Lee 26, Harris 26, Barroca 12, Dionisio 12, Jalalon 10, Sangalang 9, Corpuz 4, Wong 3, Reavis 2, Escoto 0, Ahanmisi 0.
San Miguel 87 – Muhammad 27, Perez 18, Manuel 16, Lassiter 11, Fajardo 6, Tautuaa 5, Romeo 4, Ross 0, Enciso 0, Brondial 0
Quarterscores: 25-23, 57-44, 81-62, 104-87
