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 best strategy may not be enough for Barangay Ginebra or San Miguel Beer to prevail in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series.
“[It’s] possible [that] the healthier team will likely have the advantage in this series,” Scottie Thompson said in Filipino after the Gin Kings took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven affair with Sunday’s 100-90 win at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Injuries to some of the league’s top stars have been hounding not just the Ginebra-San Miguel series, but also the other semifinal tussle between TNT and Rain or Shine.
Thompson has been playing through a hamstring problem since the semifinals began, while Beermen star June Mar Fajardo has seen some dip in minutes due to tightness in his calf muscle.
Meanwhile, TNT sat out RR Pogoy in its 107-86 defeat to Rain or Shine that reduced its lead in the series to 2-1 due to a hamstring issue as well. The Tropang 5G are still determining if they’ll give Pogoy a go on Wednesday at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
TNT actually is dealing with a lot of walking wounded ever since the conference started, with absentees including Jayson Castro, Rey Nambatac and third-stringer Brian Heruela, who could be back for Game 4 after twisting his ankle against Magnolia in the quarterfinals.
Jordan Heading is also playing through a bad back, which is also prompting TNT to do the Fajardo route by limiting his minutes as much as it can.
Significant increase
But there appears to be no reason for both Thompson and Fajardo to be put 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 turn the Final Four 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’s the playoffs, and I have to give 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 significant 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 in the last two games, though Game 2 allowed him to get plenty of breather as the Beermen cruised to a 100-83 win at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The eight-time Most Valuable Player did admit there’s a slight tear in his calf, but ruled out anything severe that could be detrimental to his play.
“There’s some tightness and a slight tear [on my calf], but I think it’s going to be fine,” Fajardo said in Filipino. INQ
