It all started out as a playful ribbing among teammates prior to the game, thus the wonder on Baser Amer’s part that it actually turned out to be true.
The heady playmaker pulled off the infamous ‘Night. Night’ celebration once again as he nailed a difficult go-ahead jumper with 2.1 seconds left that eventually led to Blackwater’s pulsating 91-89 win over Phoenix on Friday.
According to the 29-year-old, his fellow Bossings teased him during warmups of doing that stunt again, which he did firstly against former team Meralco last June 30 upon nailing the cold-blooded game-winner off the glass.
“Actually kanina, nagwa-warm up kami, sabi ng mga teammates ko, ‘O Baser’ — parang biro-biro lang — ‘baka mag-good night ka ulit mamaya a.’ Tumawa lang ako,” he told reporters.
“Nangyari kanina.”
It really is a rare occurrence for one to nail game-winning shots twice in a row. And that, for Amer, is all thanks to the trust head coach Ariel Vanguardia has in him despite not being in the usual against the Fuel Masters.
“Grabe talaga ‘yung tiwala ni Coach sa akin. Actually, ang sama ng shooting ko, ang sama ng game ko, pero ‘yung last play, sa akin niya pa rin binigay,” said the seven-year pro, who finished with nine points on a 3-of-7 clip.
Blackwater did the very same play it executed versus the Bolts — Amer received the inbound, went through an Ato Ular screen, and let him come up with the best possible option to turn that particular scheme to two points.
And in both instances, one of San Beda’s all-time greats decided to take matters in his own hands, and did not fail to deliver as it led to victories.
“If you review that last play, inistep back ni Baser, wide-open din yung backdoor ni Rashawn e. Pero, siguro naano siya, baka ma-turnover, open naman ako, tinira niya. Pero that’s the same play,” Vanguardia said.
Big thanks to Amer, the Bossing’s surprising win streak has stretched to four, keeping their hold of the third spot of the standings firmly.
The seven-year pro, though, just feels blessed that he and the team were able to hurdle another challenge that ultimately led to their fifth win in six games.
“Sobrang blessed ko na naitawid ulit namin. I think nasa no. 2 or 3 kami. Pero coming into this game kasi, ni-remind kami ni Coach na playoffs, start this game. Para pagdating namin sa playoffs, hindi na kami manibago,” he said.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
