In one scary moment in the early part of the second period, Paul Lee drove to the basket and had a bad fall. He landed on the foot of San Miguel Beer guard Chris Ross and the Rain or Shine star quarterback grimaced in pain. Teammates quickly rushed to his aid and carried Lee all the way to the bench.
There was one positive side, though – Lee was able to walk off the court at halftime although he wasn’t able to return to the game.
“May pain lang siya kapag nai-stretch,” Lee told sportswriters after the Elasto Painters lost to the San Miguel Beermen. Although Lee still wanted to play, the player known as “Angas ng Tondo” said his knee betrayed him.
“Parang kulang siya sa lakas,” he added. “Pero pasalamat pa rin ako hindi grabe yung nangyari. Magpapa-check up pa rin ako and titingnan ko kung ano yung advise ng doctor.”
Rain or Shine physical therapist JD Caliwanan said the initial finding on Lee is a hyper extended knee injury.
“Hindi siya ganung ka-grabe because when we checked his knee mukhang stable naman siya,” added Caliwanan. “It’s similar to a sprained ankle na kapag ilalalakad mo para siyang kulang sa lakas. So ganun rin nangyari sa knee ni Paul.”
Chris Tiu injured, too
Like Lee, Chris Tiu was also sidelined by an injury.
“Bumigay ulit yung hamstring ko,” Tiu told Tiebreaker Times in an exclusive interview. “Two weeks ago nangyari ito. The bad thing about this type of injury, bumabalik-balik siya.”
With Lee and Tiu out, Jonathan Uyloan was able to make a good account himself, scoring nine points.
