Lassiter fuels hot San Miguel start in win over NLEX

SMB’s Devon Scott battles NLEX’s Brandon Ganuelas Rosser (No. 45).

Marcio Lassiter and the San Miguel Beermen are no longer using the absence of June Mar Fajardo as an excuse to keep themselves away from the PBA Commissioner’s Cup title picture.

“It sucks to see him out,” Lassiter said after his fiery first quarter shooting helped the Beermen snap a two-game skid and beat the NLEX Road Warriors, 124-116, before a big crowd at Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday.

“But at the same time, we [have to] come into each game knowing that we have full confidence in our teammates. We know we have to pick each other up, have each other’s back and we just do it as a team.”

San Miguel, now at 2-3 (win-loss), played its third straight minus Fajardo, who is still recovering after undergoing a throat procedure caused by an accidental hit from Rain or Shine import Steve Taylor Jr.

His absence, coupled with San Miguel’s murky import situation that began when original choice Thomas Robinson got hurt before the conference began, has resulted in back-to-back defeats—first to guest team Bay Area by a surprisingly huge margin,113-87, before falling short to Converge two nights ago.

The previous match spoiled the debut of new import Devon Scott, who came in after Diamond Stone couldn’t meet the Beermen’s expectations after three games.

After a decent showing against Converge, Scott improved a bit and came up with 26 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

That output impressed Austria, who nonetheless wants to see a bit of Scott’s naughty side.

“He’s trying to be nice with his teammates. And I keep on telling him that you should not be nice to your teammates sometimes because there’s a shot for you,” Austria explained.

“He’s very unselfish and sometimes his turnovers come from trying to get the ball to his teammates.”

Lassiter pumped in 18 of his 22 points on six threes in a first quarter onslaught that put the Beermen ahead, 43-35.

Their biggest margin was at 15, which NLEX tried to chip at before Scott and the San Miguel locals—Vic Manuel, CJ Perez, Jericho Cruz and Mo Tautuaa—hosed down the comeback try. INQ