Rain or Shine’s Ryan Araña looks to escape the defense of Petron Blaze’s June Mar Fajardo. PBA IMAGES/Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines—Rain or Shine guard Ryan Araña will likely miss at least two games of the 2014 PBA Philippine Cup Finals due to his injured left shoulder.
Araña sustained the injury in the first quarter of the Elasto Painters’ 70-80 loss to the San Mig Coffee Mixers in Game 2.
“I sprained a ligament on my shoulder. Might miss two or three weeks the doctor said,” Araña told INQUIRER.net in a text message Tuesday. “But it depends, if I can play they’ll give it a go.”
The 30-year-old Araña, a key contributor for the Painters on both ends of the floor, also said that the injury was “nothing serious” and “we initially thought it was a tear” that would have sidelined him throughout the remainder of the championship series, but a second look on his left shoulder on Monday ruled out a possible tear.
The six-foot-one Araña’s absence was felt in ROS’ blowout loss last Sunday with wingmen PJ Simon and James Yap leading the way for the Mixers.
“He (Araña) is a tough defender, so we lost that,” said his teammate Chris Tiu.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven Finals (both teams are tied at 1-1) is on Wednesday, 8 p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.