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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider RJ Abarrientos relishes his best playoff start so far. Can he sustain it?

RJ Abarrientos relishes his best playoff start so far. Can he sustain it?

Published Jan 7, 2026 01:04 pm

At A Glance

  • Now on his fourth conference in the playoffs, the 26-year-old playmaker looked more comfortable on the offensive end for the Kings, especially during the two games against Converge in the quarterfinals and the first game of the semifinals against San Miguel — a stretch that is seemingly becoming Abarrientos' breakout run.

RJ Abarrientos seems to be relishing his best playoff run so far in his young PBA career in the Season 50 Philippine Cup.

Now on his fourth conference in the playoffs, the 26-year-old playmaker looked more comfortable on the offensive end for the Kings, especially during the two games against Converge in the quarterfinals and the first game of the semifinals against San Miguel  — a stretch that is seemingly becoming Abarrientos’ breakout run.

In his first year in the PBA where Ginebra made it to the playoffs in all of the three conferences, Abarrientos was only averaging 12.7 points, 3.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 71 games.

And while his numbers improved to 16.5 points, 3.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds through the 11 games in the eliminations, Abarrientos has found an extra gear to his offense in the playoffs.

Abarrientos put up 27.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals to help Ginebra overcome a twice-to-win disadvantage against Converge. He even had a career-high 35 points — built on six triples in the Kings’ 105-85 Game 1 win over the FiberXers on Christmas Day.

Picking up where he left off, Abarrientos played a key role in the 99-90 win that snapped the 10-game winning streak of the red-hot San Miguel.

Abarrientos scored seven of his 23 points in the last two minutes where the Kings made the decisive run. He added seven assists, four rebounds and two steals.

And Abarrientos is doing that despite being hounded by SMB’s hard-nosed defenders in Chris Ross and Jericho Cruz.

“Siguro nakatulong sa akin individually yung physicality ng Converge the way they played defense against and me and siguro iyon yung inadapt ko going against a veteran team like San Miguel,” said Abarrientos.

"Siyempre tinitingnan ko yung against kuya Chris Ross, Jericho Cruz, so napagahandaan ko yung physicality sa Converge games pa lang,” he added.

It remains to be seen whether Abarrientos can truly sustain the scorching run especially since it is still too early in their best-of-seven affair against San Miguel in the semifinals, but there is no doubt that at this point, the shifty guard has been enjoying his best showing on the offensive end and as one of Ginebra’s main weapons.

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