Marcio Lassiter found a good time to regain his touch. Since he started suffering back spasms halfway through San Miguel's semifinal series Phoenix, the Beermen's sharpshooter has not been the same.
But it was a different story Sunday night as Lassiter notched 20 points to help the Beermen salvage the series with a 98-86 win over Magnolia in Game 6 of the PBA Philippine Cup finals.
"It was falling tonight," Lassiter said. "You know, I was kinda mixing it up tonight, going inside, cutting. Coach [Leo Austria] was telling me to attack more, just play how they feel.
"I was fortunate to get my first 3 going, and I was getting more and more comfortable and the guys were sharing the ball and what we always do, we're just continuously sharing the ball."
It's good news for the Beermen, who will need the before plunging into action in Game 7 on Wednesday in search of an unprecedented five-straight All-Filipino title.
While Austria was pleased with Lassiter's performance, he hopes he can to sustain his play.
"Hopefully he remains consistent. I think he still needs some time [to regain his touch]," Austria said. "In the last two games, he's getting back to his form slowly."
Lassiter's 20 points matched his Game 4 total, but he looked more comfortable on Sunday shooting 7-of-14.
"His confidence is definitely high going into the rubber match. But he needs to be consistent. He needs to be focused," Austria said.
But it will take more than just Lassiter to win against a resilient Magnolia side. The SMB shooting guard said reigning five-time MVP June Mar Fajardo remains the focal point of the team's attack.
"The main focus is June Mar, and I just wanna be there when they double, just to give more opportunity for him to work in the post and just space the floor. That's what I'm there to do," he said.
Meanwhile, the win didn't really dampened the spirit of the challengers.
Ian Sangalang said pushing the mighty Beermen to their limits alone is already something that keeps their confidence intact.
"We're still blessed to come this far. We're the only ones who believed we can reach this stage," said the Magnolia star.
Now they have to continue to believe they can topple the four-time champions when the two teams meet for the last time this conference. It's not going to be easy, but it's not impossible.
"Now that we're here, we're going to give it our all to keep the game as close as possible for a chance to win the series," he said.
Lassiter echoed his sentiment.
"We know it's not gonna be easy. Both teams want to really win this game, and we know it's gonna be a grind out game. And from this point, we have to mentally prepare ourselves, and what happened today, let's move on," he said.
"We know it's gonna be a really tough battle, so we just have to come out there and stay focused, stay locked in. Just trust in the coaches and just go from there."