Scottie Thompson downplayed his crucial three late in Game Five of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals on Sunday night, simply referring to it as a ‘lucky shot.’
The reigning BPC drilled one from deep with the shot clock winding down, much to the joy of the partisan crowd at the SMART Araneta Coliseum as it also inflated the Ginebra’s lead to eight, 105-97, with 2:16 remaining in the game.
That shot doused cold water to Meralco’s comeback hopes, who threatened to steal the game by knocking within one after being down by 14.
“Wala na. Kasi nakita ko ‘yung shot clock, talagang ano, I think four, three seconds na lang. So nakita ko naka-sag konti si Allein, so tinira ko na lang,” offered the 28-year-old shortly after their 115-110 victory.
“Lucky shot.”
However, Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone, who was just beside him in the postgame presser at the Willie Caballes Hall, begged to differ.
“Lucky? Boo,” said the league’s only 23-time champion mentor, drawing laughter from members of the press.
Cone then turned serious as he explained why he disagreed with Thompson, saying that it’s a result of the work his star guard has been putting in.
“That was pure,” he said.
“That was a pure shot. That went through so cleanly. No luck involved in that shot.
“That’s a lot of hard work that he’s put in the gym over the last four, five years, making that shot,” he continued.
Nevertheless, it was yet another sterling night for the do-it-all guard, who flirted with a triple-double. He finished with 19 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds, together with a steal and a block in over 43 minutes.
One of his boards once again wowed many — an offensive rebound against Tony Bishop to regain possession, which, eventually, ended with that trey.
“Scottie’s still young, but he’s been through so many of these things before,” said Cone, lauding the composure Thompson and the crew displayed that ultimately lifted the Kings a win away from defending their title.
“They really know how to settle down, and they can think the game through. So I’m just really fortunate that I have a veteran team that’s been doing this stuff for a while. They handled it extremely well.”
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