The Phoenix Fuel Masters absorbed a stinging loss to the also-ran NLEX Road Warriors on Saturday, a defeat that snatched their narrow playoff hopes from their very hands and made things worse for a disgruntled squad.
And no one was more disappointed than rookie Matthew Wright, who took the scoring cudgels for the Fuel Masters with 42 points on 60 percent shooting, but still found his team on the losing end.
“We didn’t play like a team,” rued the 26-year-old Gilas Pilipinas gunner. “NLEX has no shot of making the playoffs, but they came out [strong] in the first quarter, scoring like 30-something points, so I think that was the difference.
“We didn’t handle our business. We didn’t play like a team that’s desperate for a win today.”
It was all Wright for Phoenix in the game, especially in the second half, where the Filipino-Canadian willed his team back into contention — from being down by as much as 23, 74-51, in the third canto to close within a bucket, 77-75.
The St. Bonaventure product, who is now averaging 15.0 markers, scored 17 of his total output in the frame.
“I was just making shots in the third quarter trying to keep my team within the game,” said Wright of that takeover moment.
“My main focus was just trying to narrow the gap because we were down double-digits the entire game.”
But then again, the defeat made the Fuel Masters’ playoff aspirations bleaker than before. They can still progress to the next round, but their destiny does not lie in their hands as they have to hope for other teams to stumble.
And Wright admitted that he, personally, is not a fan of that scenario.
“Our playoff fate isn’t in our hands anymore.
“We got to wait and see [and] hope for some teams to lose, but I don’t really like it. I don’t believe in that kind of fate,” declared Wright.
