Christmas sacrifice all worth it for LA Tenorio as he notches conference high for Ginebra in Finals opener vs. Bay Area

Away from his family this Christmas, LA Tenorio put up a vintage performance to help Ginebra get one win against Bay Area in the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

PASAY—It was not an ordinary Christmas for LA Tenorio.

Oftentimes, he would celebrate the holiday with his family at home or bring them along to the arena when his teams were scheduled to be in action on Dec. 25.

However, with Ginebra in the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals with Game 1 scheduled for a Christmas night tip-off, it marked a rare time during his illustrious "Iron Man" career that he will not be with his family, who went abroad for the holidays, for a while.

Also, he will still not be with his family come Game 2 on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

"It was really a mix of emotions because this is the first time I will really spend Christmas away from my family," Tenorio said.

However, for him, the Tenorios being on separate Yuletide agendas is more of a blessing in disguise.

"At the end of the day, it's really a blessing for the family that they get to spend the vacation even without me and me here playing in the Finals in front of thousands of fans during the Christmas season. Being a professional, this is part of our sacrifice," LA said.

He added that his family is well aware of the situation and has expressed its full support to him.

"My family is very supportive of it. They really allow me to focus on what I have to do every playoff, so I think it's a good thing also that I can really focus on this Finals—an added motivation for me," Tenorio further said.

The "added motivation" worked on Christmas Sunday as Tenorio finished with a new conference high 22 points on a 50 percent clip from the field to help the Gin Kings depose the Bay Area Dragons in the opening game of their championship series in front of 18,252 fans at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Now one-fourth done in bringing another championship to Ginebra, Tenorio vows to help his team quickly finish off the guest squad.

"Might as well win this thing all the way, right?" he further said.

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