Kings give Travis rude welcome

I didn’t play well enough to give us a chance to win.

ROMEO Travis struggles in his first taste of action since suffering an ankle injury. ROMAN PROSPERO

Romeo Travis was back in action when Magnolia collided with Barangay Ginebra in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup late Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

But his return was doused with cold water when the Kings slapped the Hotshots with a 22-point beating, 105-83, in one of the most anticipated games of the conference.

Against the Kings, Travis appeared a little bit rusty.

Although he finished with 17 points, 17 rebounds and five assists, his movement looked tentative as he got outplayed by import Justin Brownlee and other Ginebra big men.

“I didn’t play well enough to give us a chance to win,” said Travis, who was known as the high school teammate of NBA superstar LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.

“The turnovers hurt my performance and I missed a lot of shots I normally make.”

Travis, the Best Import of this conference in 2015, was sidelined when the Hotshots lost to Blackwater, 95-89, last week.

Despite the injury, the Hotshots still opted to keep him and field him in a high-stake game against the Kings that was witnessed by 11,000 spectators.

Still, Travis didn’t like the way it turned out.

“I didn’t have the overall rhythm today. I didn’t have good rhythm today I guess that what happens when you sit out for 10 days and try to just play,” adding that he will exert extra patience as he works his way back to shape.

“I can only keep on working and keep trying to play hard and live with the results. If you leave it all out there and play hard, you’ll just live with the results.”