It took a while for Paul Lee to wrap his head around Magnolia’s wild win over Ginebra in Game 2 of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series Friday, in total disbelief as he entered the media room for the postgame presser.
The Hotshots escaped with a 96-95 victory big thanks to the star guard, calling game through a leaner off the glass to beat the buzzer — a possession he nearly botched after losing the ball to the defense before the lucky save.
As he settled down, the ‘Lethal Weapon’ couldn’t be any more thankful that he had enough time to ultimately tie the series at a game apiece.
“Nag-concentrate lang ako sa tira ko. Hindi ko na inisip kung may time pa ba,” said Lee during the briefing at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
“Kasi, kapag minadali ko ‘yung tira ko, inisip ko kung aabot tira ko, mas lalong hindi maganda ‘yung magiging tira ko roon. Thank God, enough ‘yung time para maitira ko ‘yung bola ng mas maayos.”
Lee shortly became the center of talk across social media after turning yet another heroic outing, which also capped off an impressive outing all in all.
He finished with a team-high 24 points on 69-percent shooting from the field, including 5-of-9 from deep, on top of four assists and two rebounds.
It was actually the second time in a row that he’s fired above 20. Back in Game 1, Lee tallied 21 markers on four treys albeit in a losing effort.
The 33-year-old said that he is just capitalizing on the rhythm he’s gained, which he attributed to being ‘hiyang’ in the venue formerly known as Ultra.
“Just riding my rhythm right now. Since playing here sa Philsports, medyo maganda ‘yung vibe ko rito,” said Lee, as three of his five 20-point showings thus far in the mid-season conference happened in Philsports.
So, the 2018 Governors’ Cup BPC aims to keep his flow going as the Hotshots figure in what’s expected to be a long war in the best-of-five series.
“Hopefully madala ko siya all throughout the semis,” he said. “And siguro bigyan ko lang din ng credit yung morning routine ko every day. Nag-stick lang ako, ‘di ko sinukuan kahit masama nilalaro ko nung start ng eliminations.
“I just keep working hard every day, finally lumalabas siya ngayon. Hopefully magtuloy-tuloy talaga siya,” closed the 11-year veteran.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
