Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero hopes that Paul Lee is fine after getting hurt late in their Christmas Clasico clash with Ginebra, Saturday night.
Play was stopped at the 5:08-mark of the final period as the star gunner was lying on the floor, visibly in pain after slipping inside the free throw box.
Replays showed that he slipped on his own while trying to help out on defense, where he aimed to disrupt Christian Standhardinger’s roll to the basket.
It took a moment for Lee to stand up. He was then helped out by Victolero and a team staffer on the way to the bench, and never returned.
He left the game with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting. And the remaining Hotshots finished the game and beat their long-time rivals mightily, 114-97, to collect their third win in as many games in the 2021-22 Governors’ Cup.
“I don’t know pa ‘yung injury ni Paul e. But tinanong ko siya, sabi niya okay naman siya,” said Victolero post-game at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The champion mentor and the entire team have their fingers crossed that everything will really be alright for Lee, as they do not want the 32-year-old guard to go through the same ordeal he had in the 2021 Philippine Cup.
It could be remembered that he suffered a hamstring injury early in that conference, though he was able to recover as the league was forced to pause play due to the restrictions brought about by a surge of COVID-19 cases.
Lee was able to continue his fine play when the games resumed, only to get hurt again later on as he hurt his shoulder during their semis clash with Meralco. He was able to brave through it, but that affected his performance in the Finals.
“Hopefully hindi naman ganoon, because we don’t want again na malagay si Paul sa gano’n,” said Victolero. “Because last conference, medyo nahirapan na rin siya because of an injury.”
Fortunately, somehow, the league will head into a holiday break starting tomorrow that could help in the healing of Lee, who’s been averaging 13.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists thus far in the season-ending tilt.
“So we’re praying na sana walang masamang nangyari kay Paul,” the 2018 Coach of the Year said.
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