Magnolia is getting the form it wants entering the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals, and the same applies to Paul Lee.
The Hotshots on Sunday closed out their elimination round campaign with a third straight victory by taking down Meralco in convincing fashion, thanks in part to the seasoned gunslinger’s best showing of the conference thus far.
“Sa team naman, tinatakbo lang namin ‘yung dapat naming takbuhin, ‘yung system ni Coach,” he offered after their 93-76 win at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Lee registered 13 points alongside three rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes off the bench as he found his groove early, especially from deep.
In fact, he scored seven straight points in the second quarter, draining a four-pointer before adding a triple—a personal run that sparked a 16-0 surge and gave them a 36-15 lead, effectively putting the game under their control.
He’d go on to finish with a 3-of-4 clip from the field, including a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point distance, and sank half of his shots from the foul line.
The 35-year-old guard from UE, though, said that he simply wanted to take advantage of their foes’ defensive lapses and was thankful that he did by hitting his shots.
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“I think ‘yun lang ‘yung nangyari kanina, nagkaroon lang ng konting mistakes ‘yung Meralco kaya ako na-open. Luckily na-shoot ko ‘yung mga tirang ‘yun,” said Lee, who also netted a plus/minus rating of 11 in the triumph.
His performance also served as a bounce-back after being limited to just four points in their previous game against TNT, which ended prematurely for him after he hurt his head in a collision with teammate Jerom Lastimosa late in the contest.
“Pahinga lang siguro, laking bagay sa akin nung after last game, meron kaming couple of days going into this game, so tinake advantage ko lang,” he said.
“Credit to Coach LA, lagi niya kaming nireremind na ‘pag wala namang kailangang gawin, magpahinga na lang kami sa bahay. ‘Yun lang ginawa ko.”
But his breakout performance seemed inevitable, especially after head coach L.A. Tenorio began utilizing him more during the latter part of the eliminations following limited opportunities earlier in the midseason tournament.
Across their past two games, including against the also-ran Titan Ultra, he was given an average playing time of 24 minutes and produced 6.5 points.
Then came the conference-high outing, which Lee said was just a by-product of patience and staying ready whenever the need for his services arises.
“Sa team naman, tinatakbo lang namin ‘yung dapat naming takbuhin, ‘yung system ni Coach,” the three-time league champion offered.
“Basta ready ka lang dapat sa mangyayari sa flow namin kasi hindi mo alam kung kailan ka ma-wa-wide open kasi read-and-react ‘yung ginagawa namin. Sino ‘yung best available na player, ‘yun talaga ‘yung dapat tumira.”
