Eugene Phelps. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
They don’t call Eugene Phelps “El Destructor” for nothing.
And on Sunday, the Long Beach State alum showed why, leading Phoenix to a 120-107 victory over GlobalPort for its first win of the tournament.
The debuting reinforcement waxed hot early and unleashed 52 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists to lead the Fuel Masters to their first victory in four outings.
“In the first quarter when I think I had 19, I kind of felt it a little bit. My teammates kept on giving me the ball and coach kept running plays for me, so it happened,” he said.
Phelps did that despite taking an inadvertent elbow to the mouth from GlobalPort import Mike Glover early in the third period that left him dealing with a stuck tooth on his lower lip which needed stitches before he returned to the game in the same frame.
“They had to pull it off,” he said, “But I’m used to it. It’s happened to me two times – one time in Mexico, one time in Puerto Rico – so I know how to play through it.”
Phelps made it clear that he’s more than just a super scorer.
“I do hope to get 52 or more again, but I really don’t care about the points. As long as we win, if I have 10 or 15 points and we win, that’s all that matters.”
As dominating as he was, Phelps acknowledged that chemistry should remain as the premium for Phoenix if it wants to sustain this winning form.
“It’s just my fourth day with the team. I think our next game ain’t until like 12 days, so I think we probably got two days off. But when we come back, we’ll practice real hard, two to three hours a day to get the team chemistry going,” he said.
But for now, Phelps’ concern is his tooth.
“I’m about to go to the ER right now and get it stitched up and they’re going to sew it up a little bit,” he said. “Then I’m going to go to the dentist tomorrow and get an implant.”