MANILA, Philippines—His name maybe the hot Arizona, but his blood is as cold as Alaska.
With 6.7 seconds remaining in overtime, Best Import of the Conference Arizona Reid drained a straight-away three-pointer in the face of Marc Pingris to tie the Finals series for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters against the Grand-Slam seeking San Mig Super Coffee Mixers, 89-87.
Guard James Yap, who scored all seven San Mig points in overtime, put the Mixers ahead 87-86 with 13 ticks remaining after faking Jeff Chan then hitting a mid-range jumper.
“We were telling him to attack with less than seven seconds remaining,” Elasto Painters ead coach Yeng Guiao said Thursday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. “That’s why he’s the best import, he likes the ball in crunch time and he delivers.”
Reid, who finished with 29 points and 17 boards, also sent the game into overtime hitting a straight-on three against the defense of Pingris with 1:08 remaining.
San Mig guard Mark Barroca missed in his running layup that could have tied the game for the Mixers.
“Arizona carried us through the semifinals, and he is carrying us right now,” said Guiao.
He added that his team wasted golden opportunities to clinch the game on regulation when Beau Belga and Paul Lee missed four crucial free throws in the fourth.
Arizona Reid. INQUIRER.net/RYAN LEAGOGO
“The game could have ended earlier if Beau and Paul shot their free throws, it was very uncharacteristic especially for Paul,” Guiao said.
San Mig held momentum in the fourth holding Rain or Shine scoreless until the 7:30 mark when Reid shot a single free throw.
Guard Justin Melton capped a 9-0 rally to start the fourth with a two-handed jam off an alley-oop pass from Alex Mallari in the break.
Reid, however, took the momentum back for Rain or Shine scoring seven straight points including his game-tying trifecta.
National stalwart Jeff Chan added 14 points and two steals for the Painters, while Lee and Gabe Norwood had 12 and 10 respectively.
Yap paced the Mixers with 22 points with Pingris and Blakely both notching a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds, and 14 and 14 respectively.
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Originally posted: 10:44 pm | Thursday, July 3rd, 2014