MANILA, Philippines—Stanley Pringle wasn’t going to let any nagging pain stop him from putting up the numbers that made him one of the most lethal scorers in the PBA.
Playing in his first game back from surgery, Pringle lit up for 22 points to lead NorthPort in a commanding 110-86 victory over TNT in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Pringle had bone spurs removed from his right foot and was still feeling the lingering effects of the procedure, but it didn’t show in his performance.
“Special shoutout to the medical staff for helping me recover fast,” said Pringle after the Batang Pier nabbed their third straight win. “I’m still not all the way to 100 percent, I’m still working on my endurance.”
“I’m glad I was hitting my threes because I couldn’t get much explosion off my right foot,” added Pringle who went 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. “It’s coming back, maybe two more games I can maybe play the whole game. I’m just waiting, trying to be patient.”
Pringle, the 2018 scoring champion after averaging 21 points per game, missed the Batang Pier’s first two games of the conference but NorthPort were still able to chalk up the wins against NLEX and Alaska.
The Batang Pier also broke away from the trap of failing to win three straight games at the start of the conference.
NorthPort had also bagged back to back to start of the Philippine Cup only to lose six games straight en route to a 5-6 record before losing to Rain or Shine in the first round of the playoffs.
Pringle said that they were conscious of that early conference slump and they were adamant that it won’t happen again.
“We won the first two and lost six straight, let’s not do it again,” said Pringle. “Coach Pido [Jarencio] just wanted us to play possession by possession, just make the smart plays and execute. I think we did that.”
NorthPort managed to limit Terrence Jones to just 17 points after the KaTropa’s big man went on a tear in his first two games averaging 42 points a game.
As a team, the KaTropa shot the ball at a 39.5 percent clip, 32-of-81, while NorthPort sizzled from the field at 53.8 percent shooting or 42-of-78.