IT was simply one of those games for Phoenix.
Certainly the league’s most welcome surprise in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner’s Cup, the Fuel Masters had a chance to take it up a notch with a win against struggling Macau on Wednesday inside the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
But of all nights to come out flat, it just had to be this one - a game where they trailed by as many as 20 early on before running out of bullets in the end, to virtually say goodbye to their twice-to-beat hopes.
READ: Also-ran Macau ruins Phoenix Super LPG bid for twice-to-beat spot
“We had our chances. We started out super flat being down by 20. Somehow we were able to find a way to take the lead. I thought [Jenning] Leung made some crazy plays down the stretch. Him and [Phoenix] Shackleford hit some big shots. I don’t know how many threes they had but it definitely hurt us,” coach Charles Tiu told SPIN.ph afterward.
“Just couldn’t find our groove all game long. We couldn’t get the stops. It was tough,” he added.
Ballungay’s status still uncertain
Phoenix played without Ricci Rivero, with the prolific two-guard joining Kai Ballungay on sick bay after injuring his hand in their win over TNT on Labor Day.
Ballungay has been out for the Fuel Masters since their second game with a severe ankle sprain.
“Tough to win without Ricci and Kai and our import si J3 (Johnathan Williams) was dealing with diarrhea, he felt like throwing up the whole game,” he said.
“No excuses. Macau played well. We knew they were a good team. They have a lot of good players, they’ve just been struggling lang.”
Tiu shared that there’s still no timetable on when Ballungay will be returning, with the only good news he can share being the former Ateneo big man won’t be needing to go under the knife.
“I’m not sure when he’ll be able to play, wala pa for now. It doesn’t need surgery, it’s just a bad ankle sprain, so hopefully he can recover,” he said.
While a twice-to-beat advantage may be out of reach now for Phoenix, Tiu will still be treating that San Miguel game on Saturday like it's a crucial one - using it as a springboard for the squad entering the playoffs.
"We have to play better than this. We want to compete. Our goal is to win every game. Our goal is to get better," he said.
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