CHICAGO - With a 3-0 record to start the ongoing PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup, the Terrafirma Dyip stood on the precipice of a franchise-best 4-0 mark.
Routinely bullied for years, the team’s furious resistance and rise to the top of the standings held both the league’s pundits and fans captive.
READ Ricci scores career-high 40 as Phoenix bursts Terrafirma bubble
And then on Wednesday night, the for-sale franchise did something eerily familiar.
They failed and disappointed all at once.
Fabulously, spectacularly.
PHOENIX 133. TERRAFIRMA 105.
After looking pretty like Cinderella in their wins over Titan, Blackwater and Converge, the Dyip reverted back to ugly ducklings against Phoenix.
They got outrebounded, 43-42. They lost the assists battle, 30-17. They had twice as many turnovers, 17-8. And they got murdered in 3-point baskets made, 19-9.
Despite being hobbled by injuries, the Fuelmasters, led by Ricci Rivero’s 40 points, played with more energy and set the tone right from the jump.
Jerrick Ahanmisi continues to make Magnolia regret trading him by pumping 37 points in a losing cause.
But the key to victory for Phoenix was neutralizing Mubashar Ali.
STIFLED.
Through three games prior to tonight’s tiff, Ali averaged 33 points on 37-of-68 shooting from the field including 14-of-25 from 3.
But Phoenix put the handcuffs on Ali, holding him to 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting with no made 3s.
“We prepared hard and scouted him well. Credit to our players for following the game plan,” Phoenix coach Charles Tiu told me after the game, adding that forcing Mubashar to give up the rock to limit his shots was crucial.
And just like that, the plodding Dyip turned from the buzz to buzzkill.
It sounds silly putting Terrafirma and win streak in the same sentence.
It’s over now, but it sure was fun while it lasted.
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