By WAYLON GALVEZ
When defending champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel entered the playing court of the sprawling Philippine Arena for Game 5 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals against Meralco Sunday, Sol Mercado took some time before being able to join the rest of the Kings.
No, it wasn’t so much the crutches which take the weight of his swollen left ankle that slowed him down; it was the Ginebra fans who lined up the entranceway and sought his autograph, asked for a selfie or simply to exchange high fives.
As he hopped back toward the Ginebra bench, Mercado said all he wanted was to be with his teammates playing. Still, he felt fortunate his injury wasn’t as serious as he initially thought.
Mercado turned his ankle after landing awkwardly following a heroic block on fast-breaking Meralco forward Jared Dillinger in the waning moments of Game 4 last Friday.
“I’ll still have an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) tomorrow (Monday), but good thing is that there’s no fracture. It’s pretty swollen, but with medication and therapy I hope it’ll get better,” said Mercado.
Ginebra went on to win the game, 85-74, to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven championship series. The Kings will try to win it in Game 6 tonight also at the Philippine Arena.
Mercado hopes the two-day break would be enough to get the swelling to subside.
“I’m hoping, hoping that I can still play. It depends on how I’ll respond to medication and therapy as well. I hope to play in Game 6, but we’ll just see,” he said.
