The reigning PBA Commissioner's Cup champions, Barangay Ginebra, finally opened their PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup campaign, but not in the fashion they had hoped, absorbing an 81-78 loss to the still-unbeaten Phoenix Super LPG Fuelmasters on Sunday, July 19 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Whether it was a championship hangover or the lack of preparation from the club's Gilas Pilipinas mainstays, Ginebra still found a silver lining in the debut of new import Riley Grigsby.
Tasked with filling in for the injured Justin Brownlee, the former NBA G League forward wasted little time showcasing his offensive arsenal, erupting for 42 points and 13 rebounds while posting a 58.9 true shooting percentage.
What stood out even more than the numbers was how effortlessly Grigsby attacked the paint.
Time and again, he beat defenders off the dribble and got downhill, becoming Ginebra's primary source of offense throughout the night.
However, the Gin Kings struggled to generate offense elsewhere, as their local players shot just 23.7% from the field.
The offensive rhythm never fully materialized, with Grigsby finishing without an assist, an indication of the team's lack of chemistry with him.
"Obviously, I wished we had gotten the win, but I just came out trying to be aggressive and trying to help the team do whatever they could to win," Grigsby said.
"I had 42 points, but we need to be better on the defensive end."
While Grigsby pointed to the defense, Ginebra's effort on that end was far from poor.
The Gin Kings held Phoenix import BJ Johnson to 23 points on just 7-of-19 shooting and limited Jason Perkins to 10 points on 33% shooting.
Late in the game, they also strung together multiple stops to trim an 80-70 deficit to a one-possession game they could have stolen, thanks to the inspired play of their bench unit of John Abis, Ralph Cu, Jeremiah Gray, and Nards Pinto.
"We dug ourselves a hole in the first half, but we just took it one play at a time," Grigsby said.
"We got back into the game, thankfully, but we were one shot away."
Beyond his impressive statistical debut, Grigsby entered the conference carrying one of the toughest assignments in the league: temporarily replacing Brownlee, the winningest import in PBA history and the face of Ginebra's championship success over the past decade.
The 26-year-old admitted he understood the expectations that came with wearing the red-and-white jersey long before he arrived in the Philippines, but he never viewed them as a burden.
"I don't want to say pressure. I mean, obviously, I knew what I was coming into. Everyone talked about Ginebra," he said.
"It was basketball at the end of the day. I just had to come in and play my game, and that's what I tried to do."
The result may not have gone Ginebra's way, but its newest import gave the team an intriguing option while Brownlee remains sidelined.