June Mar Fajardo (with ball) won’t let a slight tear in his calf muscle stop him from leading the Beermen’s series-tying bid. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
The most effective strategy will not be enough for Barangay Ginebra or San Miguel Beer to prevail of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series.
“[It’s] possible [that] the healthier team will likely have the advantage on this series,” Scottie Thompson said in Filipino after the Gin Kings took a 2-1 lead within the best-of-seven affair with Sunday’s 100-90 win at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Injuries to a few of the league’s top stars have been hounding not only the Ginebra-San Miguel series, but additionally the opposite semifinal tussle between TNT and Rain or Shine.
Thompson has been playing through a hamstring problem because the semifinals began, while Beermen star June Mar Fajardo has seen some dip in minutes resulting from tightness in his calf muscle.
Meanwhile, TNT sat out RR Pogoy in its 107-86 defeat to Rain or Shine that reduced its lead within the series to 2-1 resulting from a hamstring issue as well. The Tropang 5G are still determining in the event that they’ll give Pogoy a go on Wednesday at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
TNT actually is coping with lots of walking wounded ever because the conference began, with absentees including Jayson Castro, Rey Nambatac and third-stringer Brian Heruela, who may very well be back for Game 4 after twisting his ankle against Magnolia within the quarterfinals.
Jordan Heading can also be playing through a nasty back, which can also be prompting TNT to do the Fajardo route by limiting his minutes as much as it will possibly.
Significant increase
But there appears to be no reason for each Thompson and Fajardo to be placed on the shelf, with stakes increasingly getting higher. Ginebra can go for a 3-1 advantage while San Miguel will seek to even things out at 2-2 and switch the Final 4 right into a race-to-two.
“I’m battling through it,” said Thompson, who logged 38 minutes and finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. “But it surely’s the playoffs, and I actually have to present whatever I can.”
Thompson said he got injured in-between Ginebra’s quarterfinal romp of Converge and the lead-up to the semifinal series with San Miguel.
Game 3 saw a big increase in Fajardo’s playing time, with the star big man appearing in 27 minutes and putting up 12 points and 14 rebounds, plus three assists for the Beermen.
Fajardo had come off the bench within the last two games, though Game 2 allowed him to get loads of breather because the Beermen cruised to a 100-83 win at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The eight-time Most Beneficial Player did admit there’s a slight tear in his calf, but ruled out anything severe that may very well be detrimental to his play.
“There’s some tightness and a slight tear [on my calf], but I feel it’s going to be advantageous,” Fajardo said in Filipino. INQ