BASED on how it performed in Game Five, San Miguel did miss Jericho Cruz during the past two games of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
Playing with his usual game and swag, Cruz scored a playoff-high 30 points on Sunday on 8-of-14 shooting from threes to lift the Beermen to a 108-98 victory over Magnolia that put them on the cusp of their 29th PBA title.
READ Jericho Cruz-led bench mob leads SMB to crucial Game 5 win
Last Wednesday, Cruz was nowhere in sight as he served out a suspension for incurring his fifth technical foul of the conference during Game Two.
When he returned to the court in Game Four on Friday, Cruz scored 11 points to go with three rebounds, and seven assists but fired blanks, nailing just one from the outside.
Cruz said he never dwelled on his absence in Game Three, which started Magnolia’s comeback in the series, and instead focused on what was in front of him.
“Para sa akin, just move on na,” said Cruz. “Hindi ko naman mababalik ‘yun. Nag-prepare na lang ako on what’s coming sa game na ‘to. My focus was to play this game, and after tonight, focus uli for the next game.”
San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent is glad that Cruz rediscovered his form at a most crucial time as the Beermen tried to douse the momentum of Magnolia, which wiped out a 0-2 deficit to tie the series at 2-2.
“Jericho brings us toughness. He does a lot of things for us. I’m very grateful for that,” said Gallent.
Cruz’s fiery shooting from the outside was a welcome sight after San Miguel only made seven threes in their Game Four loss.
Cruz said he made an effort to work on his outside shots even more entering Game Five.
“Binibigay talaga nila ‘yung labas eh. Kailangan talaga i-hit ‘yun. Kung hindi namin ma-shoot ‘yung labas, sisikip ‘yung game namin. We’ve been working in practice. Once na i-kick out sa akin, talagang ititira ko. It’s more of being confident lang,” said Cruz.
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