Magnolia rallies behind fallen Pingris

Magnolia guard Paul Lee honors injured teammate Marc Pingris by putting the veteran forward’s jersey number on his shoes in their duel against NLEX in Game 2 of the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals on Monday, March 12, 2018, at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Magnolia may be undermanned, but it remains undeterred.

Marc Pingris may not have been physically present at Mall of Asia Arena after he tore his ACL in his left knee in Game 1, but he served as an inspiration for the rest of the Hotshots.

Pingris’ jersey number 15 was written on tapes attached to the Magnolia players’ uniforms on Monday as they took the 99-84 Game 2 win against NLEX to level their 2018 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series on Monday.

READ: Lee catches fire as Magnolia torches NLEX to even series

“Ping is not here with us, but the inspiration that he gives us is huge,” shared coach Chito Victolero. “Every now and then, Ping will text us and tell us to play the game for the team.”

The Hotshots rallied behind their fallen leader and delivered a performance to remember in Game 2.

“He told us to win this series for him,” said Paul Lee, who broke out of his struggles, unloading a game-high 27 points.

Lee even honored Pingris by adorning his shoes with the veteran forward’s jersey number.

“Kuya Ping reminded us that we can’t turn back the time and everything has already happened. He’s already injured and we can’t do anything about it, so we need to make this memorable because we’re already in this stage. He just reminded the other guys to step up because we really need our bench,” he said.

The reserves did heed Pingris’ words, accounting for 31 bench points as the Hotshots pounced on the listless Road Warriors.

It was an emotional win for Magnolia but the fact remains that the Hotshots only evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

The question, however, is if they could sustain their run and achieve their goal of finally making it back to the finals after four years.

But if there’s one thing Pingris has repeatedly taught this group, it’s that it doesn’t matter who they face, all the Hotshots need to do is to believe in themselves.

“Kuya Ping always tells that we can do this, that we can win,” said Jio Jalalon. “So that’s big for our morale that in kuya Ping’s words, he truly believes in us.”