BY REYNALD MAGALLON
Paul Lee overcame a poor shooting night and drilled a dagger triple down the stretch as Magnolia slammed the door on Phoenix’s comeback attempt, 82-78, to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their 2023-’24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday, Jan. 26.
Misfiring all game long, the veteran point guard made it count when it mattered the most, knocking down a clutch trey against the shot clock to cap a telling 11-0 run in the final minute of the contest.
Lee, who was shooting 1-of-8 from the field before the booming triple, gave the Hotshots a five-point cushion, 81-76, after they squandered a 16-point advantage early in the first half.
He finished with six points to preserve the impressive performance from import Tyler Bey who led the way with 25 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.
Jio Jalalon had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists while James Laput, who was a surprise addition to the starting five, played solid with seven points including the huge and-1 play that tied the count at 76-all before Bey scored the go-ahead basket with 1:23 left in the fourth.
The Hotshots actually went off to a hot start and took a 30-14 lead in the opening quarter before the Fuel Masters slowly but surely chopped down the lead until they got the first taste of the lead, 74-71, behind back-to-back hits from Jason Perkins.
Johnathan Williams III even stretched the lead to five before Magnolia unloaded the back-breaking run.
Meantime, Bennie Boatwright regained his fiery form and led San Miguel Beer to a 106-96 victory over Barangay Ginebra to also move on cusp of a Finals return.
Boatwright joined hands with Marcio Lassiter and June Mar Fajardo as the Beermen created the much-needed separation in the final frame to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five semifinals series.
The SMB import torched the Kings with 38 points built in six triples – none bigger than his booming triple that gave the Beermen a 99-93 lead with 1:47 left in the contest. Lassiter also joined in setting Ginebra ablaze with four treys to finish with 16 points – all of which came in the second half.
SMB is now at the doorstep of a possible first finals appearance since 2019 when it went on to win the title with import Chris McCullough and still under then head coach, now active consultant Leo Austria.
The Beermen simply clicked from all fronts with Fajardo finishing with 17 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high six blocks while CJ Perez picked from where he left off in Game 1 with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Also a testament to the team’s depth was Jeron Teng who provided quality minutes in the second half with seven points as the Beermen kept their control of the contest even after squandering an early double-digit spread.
