They may have conquered Alaska Saturday night, but it came at a price so high for Rain or Shine.
With about four minutes left in the second quarter of their 86-84 win, the Elasto Painters lost import Denzel Bowles due to an apparent knee injury. He never came back since, leaving with 16 points and four rebounds.
“It was a huge win for us and also a big loss because we don’t know the status of Denzel right now.”
The team may have yet to determine the status of the former Best Import awardee, but fear and anxiety are now hounding the Elasto Painters camp as the outspoken bench strategist bared that Bowles felt a crack in his knee.
“Halftime pa lang dinala na siya sa hospital because he felt that something cracked in his knee. Most probably he’ll be out,” Garcia said. “Sayang eh … You see, he had sixteen points before he got injures.
“He really wanted to win.”
Asked if the 6-foot-10 Bowles had been playing through pain before falling down, Garcia said that he got hurt only now.
“Bago lang ‘to. Akala kasi ng iba mukhang wala sa kundisyon he’s just pacing himself. Mahilig mandaya eh,” the seasoned mentor quipped.
“He’s in good shape, he played sixty games in Japan so he’s in good shape.”
Still, Garcia tipped his hat to the remaining Elasto Painters for stepping up in their imports’ absence, which led to them snapping their two-game losing skid in the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup to improve to 4-5.
“At halftime, I had to get mad at the players and I told them that we have to compete … Hats off to the players they really played their hearts out,” Garcia lauded. “In the second half we played better, we did pretty well.
“I just hope that we could continue this way. I hope this boosts our confidence.”
