SAN JOSE, BATANGAS - Ken Tuffin played his best game in the PBA against no less than the reigning Commissioner's Cup champions.
The rookie wingman scored 13 of his 18 points in the third quarter that kept Phoenix afloat and paved the way for a stunning 82-77 upset of Barangay Ginebra before a sellout crowd at the newly-built FPJ Arena.
READ Red-hot Phoenix brings down Ginebra in Batangas game
Tuffin hit eight straight points in a 10-0 blast highlighted by two three-pointers in the third period to erase a nine-point Ginebra lead and put the Fuel Masters back in the game, 58-57.
That was enough to ignite Phoenix as Jonathan Williams, Jayjay Alejandro, and Larry Muyang took charge in the final period before Phoenix turned back a late Ginebra comeback to preserve the win.
But Phoenix's first-round pick in the recent draft deflected the credit to his teammates for allowing him to be at his best.
"Just credit my teammates for finding me. It was a total team effort out there tonight. We're happy to come out with that win. It was a great team win," he said.
Tuffin said the plays were not necessarily designated for him, but the ball just keeps going to him that he needed to knock in those crucial shots before a partisan pro-Barangay Ginebra crowd.
"I just tried to make those shots. We practiced that a lot," he added.
Tuffin a team player
Coach Mike Jarin credited Tuffin for that crucial third-quarter run, but agreed with his prized rookie that it was a total team basketball that gave the Fuel Masters a fifth straight win and a second-running 6-1 record.
"We found the open man. Like I always said, it's going to be selfless basketball, try to move the ball, hit the open man, so we did," said Jarin.
"He made some tough shots (out there)."
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