Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—For the majority of his career, James Yap delivered countless wins for the Purefoods franchise before he was traded in 2016.
Now, he’s doing the punishment to his former team.
Yap converted a clutch three-point play to rescue Rain or Shine in a dramatic 75-74 victory over Magnolia in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday night at Mall of Asia Arena.
The former poster boy of the Hotshots drilled a beauty of a floater that faked three Hotshot defenders with 3.2 seconds left and, for good measure, he also drained the bonus free throw to seal the league-leading Elasto Painters’ seventh win in eight games.
“The story of the game was James Yap,” said Painters head coach Caloy Garcia. “If you see the last plays we were running it was all for James.”
“We knew that James wants to win against Magnolia so win or lose he’ll take the last shot.”
Paul Lee, the man Yap was traded for, gave Magnolia a 74-72 lead with 6.1 seconds left to play but that was a false hope for the Hotshots since their former hero, the man who gave them seven titles, was just waiting for his moment.
Yap finished with a game-high 18 points with five rebounds while Maverick Ahanmisi added 13 points and seven boards with Norbert Torres pitching in 11 points of his own.
Ian Sangalang, who led the Hotshots with 16 points and 18 rebounds, had a chance to win the game for the Hotshots but his shot hit the backboard as time expired.
Mark Barroca also finished with 16 points for the Hotshots who dropped their third straight game against zero wins.