ANTIPOLO – Tony Mitchell was thrilled sharing the same playing court with folks very familiar to him.
The Macau Black Knights import went up against former team NLEX Tuesday night dropping a 106-97 loss in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center.
Mitchell went 13-of-17 from the floor to finish with a game-high 32 points, while adding 11 rebounds, and two assists opposite the Road Warriors.
Yet, the Black Knights couldn’t sustain their effort in the first three quarters and got outscored 32-19 in the fourth as they took their seventh straight loss without a win.
READ: NLEX stays hot as Bolick, Winston shut door on winless Macau
Although he admitted playing better on this night, the 34-year-old former NBA player lamented one factor that had been lacking in the Black Knights in almost all of their games.
“We got to play f----g defense,” said Mitchell, whose mouth was bit swollen following a bad fall during the game.
Nonetheless, the import was ecstatic playing against the same team where he suited up during the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup.
“That’s family,” said Mitchell, referring to the Road Warriors.
“I did the same way with the (Magnolia) Hotshots,” added the import, who actually played for the Purefoods franchise first in 2017 prior to going to NLEX. “Boss Ronald (Dulatre), and all those guys (at NLEX), it’s all love.”
Mitchell referred to Dulatre, the NLEX board of governor, as an amazing man.
“I actually saw him when I first came back. And I was watching him play,” said the import, who was referring to the MVP Olympics where Dulatre was part of the MPTC team that scored a four-peat.
The Black Knights have five games remaining in the conference, and they need to win all those to mathematically remain in the running for a quarterfinals berth.
“Hopefully, we’ll win. All five,” Mitchell stressed.
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