Brgy. Ginebra absorbs 23-point beating from Magnolia in Christmas Clasico

No way the Magnolia Hotshots would let them down on this special night.

The ball club held a jersey retirement ceremony for two Magnolia legends at halftime, and the Hotshots made the night more memorable with a 117-94 rout of the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the 2021 Christmas Day Manila Clasico at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Mike Harris upstaged Justin Brownlee and the Magnolia core outperformed their Ginebra counterpart, pulling off a dominant victory in the mainer of the kickoff bill of the PBA special “Season of Joy” presentation.

Councilor Irene Belmonte did the ceremonial toss in behalf of Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte.

Harris erupted for 29 points, 15 rebounds and five assists with five local teammates contributing double-digit outputs as the Hotshots roared to a third straight win in the 46th PBA Governors’ Cup while dealing the Kings a first loss in four starts.

“We know Ginebra is a great team, but today is our day,” said Harris.

“It’s our defense. All week, we’re focused on our defensive schemes and rebounding, and we kept them to just one shot,” Harris also said. “At halftime, we said it’s 0-0. You win every quarter and you win the game.”

They did win all quarters as they turned the highly anticipated match into a Christmas Day massacre.

The scores:

Magnolia 117 – Harris 29, Lee 20, Abueva 13, Jalalon 12, Barroca 11, Ahanmisi 10, Sangalang 9, Dela Rosa 8, Dionisio 5, Corpuz 0.

Brgy. Ginebra 94 – Brownlee 21, Tolentino 15, Aguilar 14, Standhardinger 13, J. Tenorio 11, Salado 7, Thompson 6, Onwubere 6, Enriquez 1, Caperal 0, Chan 0.

Quarterscores: 29-20, 61-42, 93-67, 117-94.