Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
The day didn’t start the way Matthew Wright would’ve wanted.
The Fil-Canadian sniper was up early morning to watch his hometown team Toronto Raptors fall 0-3 in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers on a buzzer-beating floater by LeBron James
“LeBron James hit a game winner on my team today, so I was mad about that this morning,” he recounted.
With the Raptors loss still fresh, Wright vented his ire on Magnolia and helped Phoenix get the thrilling victory.
Wright played hero as he delivered the game-winning triple, 88-87, with 3.2 seconds left.
“When we were down two points, I just tried to channel my inner Mamba,” he said, referring to his idol and NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
“I practice that shot, I practice with coach. We don’t just shoot open shots, we shoot contested shots. I shoot about 100 of those contested shots in practice. When it comes to game situations, I rarely get open shots so I gotta change my approach so I can be prepared for moments like these.”
It was a sweet victory for Wright as Phoenix finally got one over Magnolia. He finished with 19 points on 2-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while also collecting eight assists and three rebounds.
“This one felt really good because they’ve been whoopin’ our ass since I got into this league,” he said as the Fuel Masters finally got back at the Hotshots after six straight defeats. “They’ve had our number, they’ve been beating us by 20, 30, 40, and this was a huge win for us.”
With Phoenix finally slaying the demon that was Magnolia, it can move forward and turn its attention to NLEX on Friday in Biñan, Laguna.