Kevin Alas, one of the leading scorers of the NLEX Road Warriors, was extremely disappointed as he had to sit out the majority of the 2018 Philippine Cup semifinals’ Game Five on Sunday night due to an apparent knee injury.
The 26-year-old combo guard hurt his right knee just 40 seconds into their bout against the Magnolia Hotshots after driving hard to the rim. He found it hard to get up by himself, and he had to be assisted by a handful of his teammates.
Alas’ absence greatly affected the Road Warriors, as they bowed to the Hotshots, 78-87, moving them to the brink of elimination.
“It’s very frustrating for my part,” rued Alas. “Naiyak ako dun sa gilid ng bench kanina kasi gusto ko makatulong eh. Wala akong magawa.
“Kahit naman gusto kong lumaro nung second half, sabi nila ‘wag na pilitin kasi baka lalong lumala.”
“Watching them last minute, wala akong magawa,” Alas lamented, as the Hotshots broke away wide early in the payoff period through a 16-4 rally to establish a 75-62 advantage, enough to shut the Road Warriors down.
“That was big, [and it] kinda messed up our rotation,” admitted his backcourt partner Kiefer Ravena, who took the scoring load to lead NLEX with 21 markers.
“Wala pang one minute into the game [nawala na siya].”
An official diagnosis has yet to be made, and Alas’ status for the series — if ever NLEX get to extend their campaign — has definitely become clouded by uncertainties. All of these, according to Alas, will be known tomorrow.
“Sa PT, for now nothing serious,” Alas allayed, somehow. “Siyempre we can’t really say.
“We have to wait for the official word from Dr. [Raul] Canlas.”
