Perhaps, a buzzer-beater would’ve been better.
Matthew Wright admitted feeling wary when Phoenix Super LPG allowed TNT to work with a little over a second during their down-the-wire PBA Governors’ Cup encounter on Sunday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
He did make the go-ahead bucket to put his Fuel Masters up by way of a breakaway layup of off his own steal. Still, they gave the Tropang Giga 1.3 seconds – enough to set up a potential game-winning play.
“Not that I watched the replay, I should’ve just taken my time and laid it up with zero seconds left,” offered the 31-year-old gunner.
“Giving them extra seconds was deadly. That could’ve backfired.”
Fortunately, Jason Perkins came up big on defense. He blocked counterpart Troy Rosario’s alley-oop lay-up, then time expired.
Phoenix walked away with the pulsating 93-92 victory for their fourth win of the conference,
“So I gotta be better in that scenario,” he said.
Nevertheless, Wright is glad to have come out with the win, most especially with the steely resolve his side displayed. Phoenix was without Nico Salva and Larry Muyang, who is still recovering from an injury.
And, it is also their first game without Chris Banchero, who signed with Meralco as a free agent during the break. Moreover, the team also has a new import in tow in Dominique Sutton, who has taken the place of Paul Harris.
Photo by PBA Images
“We came in undermanned – we don’t have Larry, we don’t have Nico; a couple of guys are out with some injuries; we have a new import… But we can’t make excuses.
“It’s been like two months since our last game, so I don’t care if it’s only five of us going out to play. We’re gonna play as hard as we can,” the Fil-Canadian sniper added, as Phoenix last played on Christmas Day versus NLEX.
It was a stellar performance overall for Wright, who finished with a conference-high 27 points on 50-percent shooting from the field. He also chalked up 10 assists, four rebounds, and three steals in 36 minutes.
“I just had to step up my game,” he said.
“TNT was playing very physical. They were trapping, they had a great game plan. So I knew I had to match their intensity with the same amount of aggression. And, just man up and make some shots and play some defense down the stretch.”
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