Jason Perkins had his night on Sunday. But it all went for naught.
The sophomore forward fired a career-high 27 points, but all that effort went down the drain as his Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters absorbed a 94-98 loss to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters that ended their five-game winning streak.
That is why Perkins couldn’t say much about his fine performance, as it got overshadowed by the stinging defeat.
“It doesn’t really matter.
“At the end of the day, it’s all wins and losses. We lost, and we’re going to learn from it,” said the pro out of La Salle, who shot 13-of-20 from the field and also collected nine rebounds in over 40 minutes.
Phoenix head coach Louie Alas though praised Perkins for his showing.
“Very efficient eh.
“Kita mo yung plus-minus niya is twenty-two. We just have to keep on improving kasi siya naman yung pinakamasipag diyan eh,” said the seasoned mentor, who nabbed Perkins with the fourth overall pick in 2017.
It had actually been the 26-year-old from Minnesota, who made the basket that eventually sent the game into OT — a point-blank shot off a dime by Matthew Wright. That shot perfectly capped off the Fuel Masters’ gallant fightback from 14 down in the third.
The 6-foot-3 forward also made the game-tying trey with 2:41 left in the extra period. But he can only do so much, and the Elasto Painters managed to find their extra gear and walked away with their fourth straight win and a quarterfinal ticket.
But then, Perkins insisted they will all become better from Sunday’s loss.
“It’s just the breaks of the game. Little things that happen sometimes. Miscommunication. That happens sometimes, and we’re going to learn from what happened.”
