MONTALBAN, Rizal – Marcio Lassiter thought his night was over when he got hit in the nose inadvertently in the second quarter.
It turned out he was just getting started.
Lassiter scored 12 of his 18 points in the breakaway third quarter by going a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point land as San Miguel came away with a 111-93 win over Rain or Shine in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday.
READ San Miguel wins first game of PBA season in emphatic fashion
San Miguel's top gun had to retreat to the dugout to get treatment after taking a hit in the nose from Rain or Shine’s Santi Santillan while taking a running shot at the 6:59 mark of the second quarter.
“It happened so quick,” said Lassiter, who was scoreless after missing both of his shots in four minutes of play in the first half. “Coach made a sub. It was an inbounds play. It might've happened just two seconds. It was a blink of an eye.”
The 38-year-old Lassiter said he the nose was painful, but eventually learned that he didn’t need to sit out the rest of the game.
“It’s part of the game. It wasn’t intentional. But I’m just glad that I was able to come back in the second half. I wasn’t sure if I had to be rushed to the hospital or what not. I’ll just check it later and go from there,” said Lassiter.
Regardless if his nose was painful or not, Lassiter said he wanted to play and chip in knowing that his teammates had their own share of injuries in the past.
“I just want to come out and help coach and help my teammates out. We are desperate. We were down 0-2. We can’t afford to go down 0-3 this conference,” Lassiter said.
“Everyone is playing through injuries. Mine probably looked worse than it was. Hopefully, it’s nothing. You have to sacrifice. Hopefully, those little sacrifices motivate everyone to play harder,” Lassiter added.
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