Matthew Wright was clearly upset when his Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters lost again to the San Miguel Beermen Monday night, dropping them to 0-2 in their 2019 PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series.
The Fuel Masters had actually been in control most of the match – they even led by 12 in the second quarter. But they collapsed in the end, allowing the reigning four-time All-Filipino champs finish the game with a 16-6 blitz en route to the 92-82 win.
“It was a frustrating loss, to say the least,” rued Wright, who finished with 13 points on 13 attempts. “I felt like we played well, especially in the first half. I felt like we got what we wanted to do on offense. Defensively we were really clicking.
“But then we just collapsed in the fourth in the last couple of minutes – we just crumbled, you know?”
Wright said that the technical foul called on Phoenix with 1:10 left in the game – their second delay-of-game infraction, as Calvin Abueva went straight to their locker room after fouling out – also proved costly for them.
“The technical in the end really hurt. We just couldn’t seem to recover,” said Wright, as the call led to freebies by June Mar Fajardo that widened SMB’s lead to six.
“We showed our immaturity and they showed their championship pedigree.”
But as disappointing as the loss was, the Fil-Canadian sharpshooter still sees a silver lining.
“We looked like Phoenix today. Last game we weren’t nearly as aggressive, we didn’t pressure the ball and we didn’t cause as many turnovers. Today we actually played our game,” said Wright, whose side forced SMB to 18 errors.
“But the game is not over after three quarters. We just couldn’t pull it out in the end.”
