PBA (file photo) |
By Dugout Philippines
MANILA--With Paul Lee now playing without any health issues, the Star Hotshots are assured of a steady and lethal scoring weapon in the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs.
The six-foot Lee, hampered by knee problems in his final season with Rain or Shine, is now showing what he can really do for a Star side that’s eager to bounce back from the franchise’s woeful 12-win total last year.
Lee fired a team-high 22 points, five from three-point land, along with four rebounds and the same number of assists as Star rumbled past Phoenix, 114-83, to move within a win of making it to the semifinals for the first time since the 2015 Governors Cup.
The Star combo guard’s explosion was a fitting followup to his 15-point-5-assists-2-rebound effort where Star obliterated Meralco, 120-73 in the only meeting between the two squads in the elimination phase.
The “Lethal Weapon’s” pair of all-around performances earned him his second Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week award this conference
Lee beat his Star teammate Allen Maliksi, Ginebra guards Scottie Thompson and Sol Mercado, San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos and RR Garcia, along with TNT’s Jayson Castro, Larry Fonacier and Mo Tautuaa for the weekly award for the period of Jan. 31-Feb. 4.
Star goes for the jugular against Phoenix on Monday when they collide in Game Two of their best-of-three quarterfinal series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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