TNT had to make do without one of its top bigs in Game Three of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup Finals against Magnolia, Sunday evening.
Troy Rosario was sent to the hospital following a scary fall at the 3″02-mark of the third quarter. It saw him suffer a dislocated finger on his right hand.
The 6-foot-7 slotman incurred the injury following an inadvertent contact by counterpart Jackson Corpuz. He was trying to go for a lay-up to finish the break.
He lay on the floor for a while before his teammates carried him to the bench. There, he immediately popped his pinky back in place.
As for Corpuz, officials slapped him with a flagrant foul, leading to his ejection. He had already incurred a technical foul earlier in the match.
Rosario left the game with only two points and three rebounds in a little over 12 minutes of play. He spent much of his time on the bench after incurring three personal fouls in the first half, two of which came in the opening period.
Photo by PBA Images
The Tropang Giga rallied late despite going a man down but still lost, 98-106. They remain ahead in the best-of-seven series with a 2-1 lead.
This marks yet another time in the playoffs that the 29-year-old got hurt. He suffered a cut above his eye during the semis versus San Miguel.
Hotshots head coach Chito Victolero, meanwhile, wished Rosario a speedy recovery and vowed that his team will include him in their prayers.
“Our prayers also for Troy. We don’t want it to happen,” he said. “Iisa lang ang trabaho namin dito and we don’t want any injuries on any other player. At the end of the day iisa lang naman yung aming trabaho.
“We will include Troy in our prayers na maging maayos siya. Sabi ko nga, we’re warriros here on the court but paglabas, we’re still friends, magkakasama kami, and we don’t want it to happen.”
