Raymond Almazan hit arguably the most important three-pointer of his career as it helped Meralco end years of nightmares against Ginebra, Sunday night.
The 6-foot-8 big man has proven that he has range but showed that he can make some in the clutch, too, as he hit the go-ahead triple to give the Bolts the 106-104 lead with a minute left in Game 3 of their Philippine Cup quarterfinal tiff.
His long bomb from the top of the key was a solid response to the own trey of LA Tenorio on the other end just 12 seconds prior, which caught many by surprise as he hasn’t launched much from afar, especially this conference.
A quick check showed that the bruising center was just a combined 4-of-7 from beyond the arc prior to Sunday’s rubber match.
The said score eventually became the final count as the MVP Group-owned ball club went away with the semifinal ticket on hand, a win that meant the world for them as they finally got one over their long-time tormentors.
“I was saying, it’s probably the biggest shot of Raymond’s career,” offered acting head coach Luigi Trillo after the match at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Echoed Chris Newsome: “It was a great moment for him … you gotta give credit to everyone, but of course, special shoutout to Raymond.”
Almazan, for his part, said that the first three quarters weren’t that nice to him — he only made three of his eight shots — but he never had any doubt in pulling the trigger from deep, all thanks to Trillo and the Bolts.
“Wala akong doubt kasi kanina pa ako sinasabihan ng mga teammate ko na, ‘Let’s go, Raymond!’ [kahit] struggle nga ako nung first to third,” he said.
“Thank you kay Coach kasi kahit na struggle ako, last six minutes, sinabi niya sa’kin na bumawi ka,” added Almazan, who used to play for Trillo for Cebuana Lhuillier in the PBA D-League back in 2011.
Almazan ended up with 11 points and nine rebounds, and that big triple will serve as a great present for his 33rd birthday on Tuesday.
“Nung tinira ko yun, parang sabi ko pam-birthday Mo na lang sa akin ‘to kasi birthday ko sa Tuesday e. Kung pwede,” he said.
Happy birthday, indeed.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
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