San Miguel's Marcio Lassiter said it was unfortunate that his former teammate Simon Enciso had to miss Game 4 of the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup Finals last Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum because of a fractured orbital bone in his right eye.
The fracture was caused by Lassiter's elbow which landed on the TNT guard as Lassiter was on his way down after a layup during Game Three which SMB won, 108-88, on Friday night.
READ Enciso out for Game 4 with fractured orbital bone
San Miguel leads the best-of-seven series, 3-1 after winning again on Sunday, 105-91. Game 5 is on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.
When asked about the incident, Lassiter said it was definitely unintentional.
“I’m not that type of player. We all know that,” said Lassiter. “I was just playing hard.”
“I was going for a lay-up. And my natural motion is for your hands to go down. As you saw in the replay, that’s what happened,” said Lassiter.
Enciso was in street clothes and wore shades when he appeared at the game last Sunday. His injury was another blow to TNT's grand slam hopes.
Lassiter played a key role in San Miguel’s Game 4 victory where he had 10 points on 2-of-3 shooting from three and 1-of-1 from fours.
“It’s unfortunate,” Lassiter said on Enciso’s situation. “It was definitely not intentional. And I just feel like I’m just playing hard as a basketball player.”
The 38-year-old Lassiter said he had spoken to Enciso, a teammate at San Miguel from 2021 to 2025, after the incident.
“I have,” said Lassiter. “We talked and we both understand. It’s part of the game. And we both shared our side.”
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