By Adrian Stewart Co

The Magnolia Hotshots served up a 118-82 annihilation of the San Miguel Beermen last Wednesday in the 2019 Honda PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. James Farr led the win with a double-double on 19 points and 18 rebounds; while Jiovani Jalalon provided 16 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds.
The face-off, their first since the Beermen beat Magnolia in the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup finals series, saw the Hotshots surge to an early 11-4 advantage behind Mark Barroca and Farr. Despite San Miguel going on to take a slim lead, Magnolia pulled ahead to a 24-17 margin behind shots from Paul Lee and Rodney Brondial.
In the second period, as the Beermen narrowed the gap to 26-24, Magnolia rallied behind outside hits from Barroca and inside points from Jalalon and Marc Pingris to take a 52-38 halftime lead.
The Hotshots then used the second half to pull away further, stretching to their widest gap of 38 points./ASC, WDJ