CHASED for an interview, Jason Perkins looked like he didn’t achieve a personal milestone, apart from, more importantly, Phoenix prevailing in its PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinal game against Alaska on Sunday night.
The sophomore forward was wearing a poker face when he talked to reporters as he emerged from the dugout after the Fuel Masters’ 91-76 victory over the Aces in a game that saw him reset his career high in scoring.
Perkins deflected credit as he registered 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting and missed a double-double by just one rebound, on top of collecting three assists, one steal, and one block in 32 minutes as a starter.
“It’s basically just feeding off of my teammates,” said the 26-year-old forward, whose previous career high was 27 points. “We just made good reads. We’re just working hard feeding off of everyone’s energy.”
Perkins’ offensive breakout sparked the Fuel Masters’ breakthrough entry to the semifinals for the first time since entering the league in 2016.
“I feel good,” the former La Salle standout said. “We worked really hard for this. Everyone invested a lot in this, a lot of energy and a lot of time. We’re not done.”
And now, Perkins and the rest of the Fuel Masters prepare for the winner of the quarterfinal pairing between San Miguel Beer and TNT in a best-of-three series that the Beermen are leading, 1-0.
“We’ll just wait,” Perkins said. “All we can do right now is just recover and get ready. Once we know who we play, we just have to prepare from there.”
Maybe that’s the reason for his deadpan expression, knowing the tough competition that lies ahead.
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