Scottie Thompson is offering no excuses even as his hamstring injury continues to bother him in the ongoing PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup semifinals.
The former league MVP has been quietly battling through the pain since their quarters series against Converge, and he clearly isn’t fully healthy — all while the Kings have found themselves on the brink.
“No excuses na,” he told reporters on the heels of their 103-92 defeat to San Miguel in Game 5 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum on Friday night.
Thompson still finished with 14 points and nine rebounds in their latest loss, but couldn’t find his touch. He only made five of his 14 attempts from the floor.
Still, it was a good bounce-back after an unusual showing in their Game 4 loss last Wednesday. There, he struggled mightily — a sign of how much the leg issue is slowing him down.
(C) PBA Images
He did have 11 points on a 4-of-5 clip with four assists and a block, but failed to collect even a single rebound in his nearly 25 minutes on the floor.
According to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III, the last time Thompson had zero boards in a game was in a 102-81 loss to the Beermen as well in Game 4 of the 2017-18 Philippine Cup semis — a wild coincidence.
But the do-it-all guard is leaving all that behind, with his sights all set in Game 6 on Sunday, still at the Big Dome as he and Ginebra hope to avoid elimination.
After Friday’s loss, the crowd darlings have fallen behind 3-2 in the best-of-7 series, meaning that one wrong step in their next meeting could spell doom to their aspirations of reaching the Finals for a third straight time.
“The series is not over yet, ‘yun lang,” said Thompson, who’s been to quite a few Game 7s himself.
“Hindi naman excuse na hindi 100-percent para matalo.”
