Chris Ross heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum. Marcio Lassiter had nailed a game-winning step-back triple moments earlier, sending San Miguel to a 2-1 lead over Star in their semis bout.
“He works on shots like that,” shared Ross after the Beermen’s 111-110 win over the Hotshots, regarding his teammates’ huge trey.
“It’s not a surprise to me that it went in. It’s not luck, it’s always hard work.”
Moments prior to that shot, Ross had nearly let San Miguel down. He tried taking matters in his own hands, attacking Star’s defense and pulled up for a one-hander all over Rafi Reavis. But it did not reach the bottom of the net.
Fortunately for SMB, they got the offensive board, and the Lassiter magic took place.
Ross may have missed the potential game-tying shot, but that wasn’t a microcosm of the way he played all game long. He was even crowned the co-Best Player of the Game, with 27 points, eight boards, and eight dimes.
The 6-foot-1 point guard may not be among the game-savers the grinding series have seen. But the numbers he has been producing are hard to ignore.
And the Playoff Chris Ross was unleashed.
“It’s just something about the playoffs for me, man,” said the 31-year-old, who has been filling out the stat sheet with notable norms of 14.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 4.0 steals, and 1.3 blocks in the series.
“I just wanted to go out there and give us a chance to win and be aggressive. I was playing defense, sharing the ball, whatever it took for my team to win, I was willing to do.”
It has always been known that Ross becomes a different animal when the playoffs come around, and his two Finals MVP awards are a testament to that. But for him, it’s just all about being able to fulfill the task at hand.
“Just play hard, just not thinking about winning the game, but just going out there and taking care of your job each and every play, and bringing playoff-level intensity,” shared the four-time champion.
A win on Friday, June 16, will propel to them to the mid-season conference finals. But Ross knows that closing out the series will be a daunting task, given the way Star are battling with them.
“Those guys aren’t going to lay down. It’s been a battle all three games and expecting the same thing on Friday,” stressed the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year.
“The hardest game to get is the close-out game and we’re aware of that.”
