Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
The highly-intense semifinals duel between No. 2 Magnolia and No. 6 NLEX was momentarily stopped after Hotshots forward Marc Pingris hurt his left knee in the fourth quarter of Game 1 Saturday night.
Pingris grimaced in pain while clutching his left knee. He had to be stretchered off the court after his left knee buckled while he was going for the drive at the 4:39 left with Magnolia ahead, 76-73.
Adding insult to injury, the Hotshots lost, 88-87, facing a possibility of going down 0-2 on Monday night at Mall of Asia Arena.
“What happened to Ping is very unfortunate, but those things happen especially in the playoffs when games are hard and physical those things can happen and we hope he’s okay,” said NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao.
After the final buzzer sounded, Road Warriors rookie Kiefer Ravena rushed toward Pingris, who was about to be taken to the hospital.
“I couldn’t wait for the buzzer to sound, I was waiting under the ring to really rush because the said he’s about to go,” said Ravena, who was one of the heroes for NLEX.
“So hopefully, prayers up for kuya Ping. It’s always sad to see a player go down like that. Hopefully, he just keeps getting better and better after what happened tonight.”
It was a tough blow for the 36-year-old Pingris, who just returned this conference after being out for several months due to a recurring hip injury.
Pingris had five points, seven rebounds, three assists and a block in 28 minutes before the injury.