Magnolia has shown it knows what it takes to beat San Miguel two games into the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
The Hotshots scored a big blow in the series opener with a 101-103 come-from-behind win where they game back from 20 points down, 72-52, in the third quarter and outscored the Beermen 30-14 in the final 12 minutes.
Magnolia nearly pulled off another stunner in Game 2, where it trailed by as much as 21 but managed to bring it down to single digits with an 11-0 run before San Miguel doused the uprising.
In both games, the Hotshots exposed the Beermen’s vulnerability but shooting guard Paul Lee believes the Hotshots haven’t even dented San Miguel’s armor.
“Of course we’re still the underdogs,” said Lee after Magnolia’s practice on Maundy Thursday at Ronac Art Center. “You can see that even if you combine all of us together, we still failed to match up against San Miguel.”
In the Beermen’s 92-77 crushing of the Hotshots to even the series at 1-1, San Miguel had five players score in double digits.
Arwind Santos, the league MVP in 2012, put up 24 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks while Marcio Lassiter and Alex Cabagnot finished with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
It wasn’t even a dominant night offensively for four-time MVP June Mar Fajardo, who finished with 12 points, 13 boards, and three blocks while substitute point guard Brian Heruela joined in the scoring act with 10 points, 3-of-3 from the field and 3-of-3 from the stripe, while tallying three steals.
Lee said they just have to try to best to counter San Miguel brings in Game 3 with the series down to a virtual best-of-five.
“We just have to be ready and give ourselves a chance to win,” said Lee who is averaging 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in the finals. “At least we were able to win one and that’s what coach [Chito Victolero] had always told us and that is to put ourselves in the position to win.”