AZ Reid. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
San Miguel had a late beer run and stopped Phoenix from any hope of reincarnation with a 124-113 beating in the PBA Governors’ Cup Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Beermen import AZ Reid had a personal 11-0 run across the third and fourth quarters to give San Miguel 100-93 lead at the11:47 mark of the final period.
Phoenix now dropped to 0-2 while San Miguel started its defense of its Governors’ Cup title on a strong note.
Beermen head coach Leo Austria knows the importance of taking the first game after their rocky start in last year’s Governors’ Cup that began at 0-2, almost jeopardizing their playoff entry.
“This game is very important to us because we want to have a good start,” said Austria, who admitted he was worried of the Fuel Masters’ newfound veteran leadership. “This time, kalaban namin Phoenix and we realized we couldn’t relax in every game.”
“Every team in the PBA is very competitive.”
Phoenix tried to fight back the resurgent defending champions cutting the lead to 108-103 after Norbert Torres struck a three-pointer, but the Beermen rallied back with a 9-2 run that Alex Cabagnot capped off with a jumper at the 6:28 mark for their 117-105 lead.
Reid lived up to his namesake of a state and unleashed 41 points to go along 10 rebounds, while reigning two-time MVP June Mar Fajardo had his own double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Cabagnot added 20 points to the Beermen total.
Marcus Simmons led Phoenix with 28 points and 11 rebounds.