Paul Lee struggled to put weight on his left foot as he made his way out of the Magnolia Hotshots’ locker room at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, Saturday night. His sprained left ankle was already wrapped with a heavy plastic brace.
The Leethal Weapon had incurred the injury with less than eight minutes to go in the third quarter of their match versus the TNT Katropa after landing awkwardly off his own shot. He never had a chance to come back into the bout.
His absence was hardly felt as Magnolia eked out a 91-83 victory over their rivals, extending their streak to five and helping them inch closer to booking a quarterfinal slot in the 2018 Philippine Cup.
“Sobrang maga na. Malas lang. Wala eh, ‘di natin maiwasan talaga yung ganun,” rued Lee moments after the match, where he left with five points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal in over 18 minutes of playing time.
“Malas lang. Maganda na yung laro, maganda na yung tinatakbo ng team.”
The 6-foot gunner was limping badly the moment he hurt his left ankle, even admitting that it was the first time he had been sprained that severely. However, he strongly feels that the injury is nothing serious.
“Yung PT naman namin chineck naman niya yung mga dapat i-check. Okay naman daw. Wala naman [nakitang kakaiba],” the 28-year-old scoring guard shared. “Feeling ko sprain lang.
“And hopefully sprain lang talaga.”
It may have been a tough Saturday night for the seven-year pro, but he finds consolation in the Hotshots’ victory — an outing where the likes of his fellow guards Mark Barroca and Justin Melton stepped up excellently.
Barroca spearheaded the Hotshots with 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, while Melton produced a double-double of 14 markers, 12 coming in the third canto, and 10 caroms.
“Yun naman yung pinakamaganda dun. Nakita natin yung strength ng team. A lot of guys stepped up, especially Justin in the third quarter and of course Mark playing very well sa buong laro. Maganda yun para sa’min,” the seven-year pro said.
“Kahit wala ako pinakita ng team na kaya manalo.”
