Birthday boy Matthew Wright is confident that Phoenix can make a late surge in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations after his heroics led to a 74-72 victory over TNT KaTropa Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Wright's three-pointer and a pass that led to a go-ahead floater by Doug Kramer gave the Fuel Masters a thrilling win that put them in a logjam for fifth with the KaTropa, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the NLEX Road Warriors at 4-4 with three games left in the eliminations.
Phoenix kept a slim chance at securing a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals, but will need a combination victories and help from Lady Luck in order to gain a favorable seeding. Only San Miguel (6-1), Magnolia (6-2), Alaska (6-2) and Rain or Shine (4-3) have better records.
The Fuel Masters' remaining opponents have losing records in the Meralco Bolts (Feb. 14), Blackwater Elite (Feb. 21) and GlobalPort Batang Pier (March 2).
"Anything can happen, so we're not taking any of those teams lightly," Wright said after finishing with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and three assists on his 27th birthday.
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Wright made sure he would deliver on his natal day using a play that would result in two clutch baskets.
His open three from the right side tied things up at 72-all with 44.1 seconds left, and used the same play when Phoenix got the ball after a miss by TNT's Jayson Castro.
But with TNT expected to double, Wright had an instinct to feed Kramer off a pick-and-roll situation that set up the winning basket with 3.0 seconds remaining.
"I know the scheme that they're trying to do, they're not gonna let me get off a good shot," Wright said. "I knew right when I touched the ball, when I came off that screen that I was gonna be met with either Kelly (Williams) or Mo (Tautuaa).
"So it was just a matter of Doug positioning himself in the right spot, and a matter of me just making a good pass. It just happened very instinctively," he added. (JT)
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