Marcio Lassiter has inched even closer to reaching the summit of the PBA’s all-time three-pointers made list after chipping away further during San Miguel’s conquest of NLEX in the PBA Season 49 Governors; Cup on Wednesday.
The veteran marksman nailed four shots from beyond the arc for 17 points, making the last one at the 6:50-mark of the fourth quarter to surpass the great Allan Caidic at no. 2.
He eventually ended the night with 1,243 career triples.
That moves him eight away from overtaking Jimmy Alapag at the top with 1,250, making the bemedaled 37-year-old feel all the more honored.
“Just to be in this elite status is quite amazing. I’m just truly grateful and thankful,” he said after their 119-114 win at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
And to think that he struggled early in the season due to food poisoning couldn’t make Lassiter grateful enough to be this close to writing history.
The 13-year pro missed SMB’s first two games because of sickness, and it took him a while to regain his form as he lost quite an amount of weight.
“I got sick. I wanted to be there for my teammates. But when you lose like 12 pounds, it’s kinda hard to get back to it, regain my strength,” he said.
And that did affect his shooting – the reason why his performance was far from usual during his first outings back with the powerhouse.
“Yeah, definitely. I didn’t have the legs,” admitted Lassiter. “I was really feeling it. I was just tryna not to put too much pressure on myself ’cause I knew that part of it was… I just wasn’t there yet strength-wise.”
But eventually, he found his form again, particularly during their game versus NLEX in Cagayan de Oro – although they lost narrowly via overtime.
Afterwards, he was back to his old ways, and proved it with his performance on Wednesday night that led to a double celebration for SMB.
Yet, as always, Lassiter refused to make it all about himself, giving recognition to the coaches and his teammates for being of help.
“You know, every game, I don’t think about it until you guys show it on the big screen in the game, then you can kinda feel it, kinda puts me in perspective in just how truly honored I am,” the Gilas pioneer said, smiling.
“But yeah, I just try my best not to think about it every night. It’s a good thing that I’m always constantly just making the extra passes and knowing that the ball will find me, and tonight that’s what happened. A lot of great passes,” he added.
“I think Jericho was the one who probably found me for the record. But other than that, you know, it’s just one step at a time. I just try to do what’s needed.”
