June Mar Fajardo. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Two nights after an injury scare, San Miguel Beer superstar June Mar Fajardo showed he’s more than just okay.
In fact, he’s perfectly fine after an impeccable offensive performance on Wednesday to lead the Beermen back to the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.
The reigning five-time MVP delivered 32 points on a flawless 11-of-11 shooting from the field on top of 14 rebounds in a do-or-die quarterfinals Game 3 against rival TNT.
READ: June Mar Fajardo close to 6th PBA Best Player award
Despite his individual brilliance, Fajardo deflected the praise to his teammates.
“It’s not just who had a good game. My teammates also stepped up and we followed our game plan especially on defense,” Fajardo, whose left knee buckled on a rebound play late in Game 2, told reporters in Filipino. “Even our bench helped, they kept our spirits up.”
He singled out his frontcourt partner Christian Standhardinger, who nearly had a perfect offensive outing, going 8-of-9, and made his first eight shots from the field.
The 29-year-old Fajardo made it look easy but he still managed to give TNT some credit.
“It’s really tiring. Their bigs are really strong,” he said.
Defending champion San Miguel moved on to face top seed Phoenix in a best-of-seven semis showdown.
Fajardo, though, would rather not think about the Fuel Masters for now after coming off a grueling series.
“We need to rest for now. I think we’re going to have viewing tomorrow and see what Phoenix does but we’re just going to think about them tomorrow,” he said.