Get a stop.
That was the only thing Cameron Clark had on his mind down the stretch, as NLEX figured in a tight battle with Barangay Ginebra in Game Three of their 2022 PBA Governors’ Cup best-of-five semifinal affair, Sunday evening.
Game was tied at 83-all and the Gin Kings were on the offensive after collecting Justin Chua’s missed jumper with about 16 seconds left. But, the Road Warriors were quick to get the ball back big thanks to the American forward.
Clark anticipated the pass of LA Tenorio to Justin Brownlee, and immediately went straight to the hoop upon intercepting. He went for a reverse and made it, and was awarded a bonus trip to the line as he was fouled by his counterpart.
The 30-year-old calmly sank the freebie to complete the three-point play with 7.4 ticks left. And NLEX went on to walk away with the 86-85 win in the bag, making sure that their season won’t end unceremoniously.
“I was just thinking we had to get a stop anyway. I had to get a stop any way possible, ended up getting a steal and a foul and I kind of sealed the game,” said Clark after the match at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“We knew this was a big game and we didn’t want to drop this one. We didn’t want to get swept. That is a good team, good crowd, we just had to go out there and just give it our all on defense,” he added.
Clark ended up with a PBA career-high five steals. The Phoenix native finished with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, alongside a game-best 17 rebounds and four assists in nearly 41 minutes of action.
That, after being frustrated the last time out.
It could be remembered that he fouled out in Game Two last Friday, booted out still with 6:30 remaining in the match. He only registered 15 points and five rebounds, easily his worst performance in the conference.
Clark admitted that he is still in the process of learning how calls and the play style alike go in the Filipino pro league. And he believes that he’s been adjusting quite well, now that he has five games under his belt.
“I feel the refs kind of f*cked me in the second game. But that’s expected. That was my [fourth] game here so I’m still kind of getting the rules and learning everything. I think I’m kind of getting adjusted to it,” he offered.
“This is my fifth game here, this is my fifth game playing with my teammates. We’re still trying to build that chemistry and I’m trying to learn when I can attack and get my teammates open and things like that,” Clark added.
“We comin’, and we on the way.”
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