MANILA - Magnolia guard Mark Barroca was proud to reach a new career milestone on Sunday night but kept his focus firmly on the bigger picture for the Hotshots.

Barroca, 36, became the newest member of the PBA's 5000-points club after he scored 24 points in Game 1 of their best-of-3 quarterfinals series against the NLEX Road Warriors in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup.

A transition layup with 7:32 to play in the third quarter put Barroca in select company. Per Fidel Mangonon, the league's official statistician, Barroca is only the 94th player in the history of the PBA to reach the milestone.

Barroca also recently played his 500th consecutive game, the second active streak in the league behind only Barangay Ginebra's LA Tenorio.

• GAME RECAP: Magnolia fends off NLEX to draw first blood in q'finals

"First of all, nagpapasalamat ako sa Panginoon sa career ko ngayon, and nakaabot kao ng 5,000 points nga," said Barroca after the Hotshots held on for a 98-89 win against NLEX that put them on the brink of a semis appearance.

"Pasalamat ako, hindi lang sa akin kun'di kay coach at sa mga teammates ko. Kung hindi naman dahil sa kanila, hindi ko rin maabot 'to," he added.

Yet Barroca was quick to shift the focus to the task at hand for the Hotshots. Magnolia took a 1-0 lead in their brief best-of-3 series but the veteran guard stressed that they are far from where they hope to be in the conference.

"Sa career ko, wala naman akong hinangad kun'di mag-champion. 'Yun lang naman," said Barroca, who has won six championships with the Hotshots including the Grand Slam in 2014. His last title, however, came all the way back in the 2018 Governors' Cup.

"Sabi ni ni coach sa amin, binuo 'yung team na 'to para hindi lang makuha 'yung mga award. Bonus lang 'yung mga award, pero 'yung goal namin is manalo talaga ng championship," he stressed.

Already, Barroca was thinking of the adjustments they need to make for Game 2 of the series, set for Friday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan. The Hotshots had pulled away from NLEX thanks to a blistering second quarter that saw them explode for 40 points, making 15 of their 17 attempts from the field.

Barroca had 18 of his 24 points in the first half to set the tone for the Hotshots.

"'Yung mindset namin is dapat strong start talaga kami, na hindi sila lalayo sa amin. Kung lalamang man sila sa amin, onti lang. Hindi kami 'yung maghahabol kami," said Barroca. "Playoffs na 'to, two games lang 'yun na ang mananalo dito."

"Ang hirap pag maunahan ka," he pointed out. "So first game, naunahan namin sila, so ganoon pa rin ang gagawin namin sa next game. Good start pa rin kami."