NLEX massacres Macau by 60

NLEX just ran over guest team Macau on its way to securing a seat to the next round of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Governors’ Cup.

It was all over but the shouting for the Road Warriors after the third quarter on their way to a roadkill of the Giant Pandas, 138-78, on Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Fresh after a nearly two-month break and with a new import in Deonte Burton, NLEX came out smoking on all cylinders and easily torched a severely depleted Macau side for a bounce back victory to improve its record to 8-2 in Group A.

The Road Warriors’ repeat – and historic - blowout of the Giant Pandas also booked them a ticket to the crossover quarterfinals.

NLEX’s 60-point winning margin surpassed the previous league record of 56 recorded by Rain or Shine when it defeated Blackwater, 151-95, last 31 March during the Commissioner’s Cup.

“Really happy with the win. Of course, anytime you're coming off a 52-day break, and especially with the win tonight with Macau. I felt going into the game very similar to the first time we played them, our first game of the season. We didn't know what their lineup was,” Alapag said.

Burton, who replaced injured DeQuan Jones, made a great first impression with a near triple-double of 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, 14 rebounds and eight assists.

The former Sacramento Kings player also put on a defensive show, swiping six steals and adding two blocks in over 24 minutes of action.

“It feels really good just to be out here with the guys. Yeah, it feels really good. I was really excited to play, and I just hope y'all enjoyed it,” Burton said.

Schonny Winston scored 25 points to lead NLEX.

Robert Bolick, coming off Gilas Pilipinas’ unsuccessful gold medal defense stint in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, had 14 markers while Kevin Alas, Tony Semerad and LJay Gonzales contributed 10 points each in the lopsided result.

The Road Warriors scored above 30 in all quarters and just wrecked the Giant Pandas in all departments. NLEX controlled the boards, 63-45, had more assists 34-14 and stole the ball from Macau 26 times.

The Road Warriors forced the Giant Pandas to commit 30 turnovers that they converted to 34 turnover points. NLEX had 46 fastbreak points compared to Macau’s seven and the Road Warriors’ bench mob outplayed its counterpart, 62-7.

By the end of the third quarter, NLEX already built an insurmountable 105-61 lead.

Macau, which had only nine available players, slipped to a third straight loss for a 2-7 card.

Oscar Lopez finished with 36 points and 13 rebounds but committed eight turnovers to pace the Giant Pandas, who were without head coach Marcus Elliot.

Kobe Lam had it worse with 10 errors under his name. He had 22 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists for Macau, which saw the departure of locals Damian Chongqui, Jenning Leung, and Ramon Cao after they signed with teams in the East Asia Super League.