RICCI Rivero missed the final moments of Phoenix Super LPG's overtime win over TNT on Friday after suffering a bloody injury to his right hand.
Rivero had just stolen a possession from Bol Bol when one of his fingers got wedged into Jayson Castro's hand as the TNT veteran guard tried to foul him with 16.2 seconds left.
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“Napunit,” said Rivero in describing the injury to his hand. “'Yung ring and the middle finger, medyo naghiwalay. Pero okay lang.”
Rivero's injury was a dampener on a night when he carried Phoenix on his shoulder, exploding with a career second-best 31 points and 11 rebounds in the 100-97 overtime win over TNT.
Rivero played the entire second half except for the final 16.2 seconds of overtime after the injury happened.
The Phoenix star had 17 points in the third to help the Fuelmasters take a 75-73 lead to the final quarter. He scored just three in the final period, but an acrobatic reverse lay-up started a 9-0 run that got the Fuelmasters ahead, 90-87, only for Bol to even things up in the final seconds of the game.
Rivero was on the bench when Tyler Tio banked in the game-winning three over Bol, stunning the reigning champion.
“I thought Ricci held the fort for us and found a way to make a lot of plays for our team,” said Tiu.
“Thank you kay Coach Charles (Tiu) for giving me the trust to take over and make the right plays not specifically for me but for the team,” said Rivero.
Tiu felt Rivero's play was a result of the entire team's desire to bounce back after a 120-103 loss to Converge last Sunday where the Fuelmasters played without import James Dickey, who was since replaced by Johnathan Williams.
“We knew we were heavy underdogs (against TNT) but we had a film session. The coaches, not just me, my staff were able to light a fire in the guys. We called out whoever wasn't performing well. We said, 'Kahit walang import, we just wanted to battle. But the way we played, it didn't look too good.'”
“Guys were angry at practice, Ricci wasn't happy the last two practices and I like to see that. You want guys that are competitive. He (Rivero) didn't say much but his game did the talking today. It's a big performance,” said Tiu.
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