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| Matthew Wright went clutch for the Fuel Masters. PBA Images |
MANILA--Matthew Wright was rusty in his first game back after the PBA Philippine Cup halted play for a month due to the COVID-19 spike in Pasig.
But with the match on the line, he still delivered.
Wright, who was firing blanks from the field for almost the entire game, shot the winning basket as Phoenix escaped with a 79-78 comeback win over Rain Or Shine on Thursday night at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
A fadeaway jumper with only two seconds left capped the Fuel Masters' rally from 15 points down midway through the fourth quarter.
Prior to that, they went on a 17-0 run that put them ahead, 76-74, only for Elasto Painter Gabe Norwood to tie the game at 76-all with his own jumper with 27 seconds to go.
Wright, however, nearly bubbled his heroics when he fouled Beau Belga just before time expired.
But Belga missed the crucial second free throw that could have forced overtime, and Phoenix hung on.
Jason Perkins and RR Garcia led the Fuel Masters' game-turning 17-0 rally and finished with 18 points each as their team moved up to 2-4, tying the Alaska Aces, who lost to the NLEX Road Warriors earlier Thursday, for eighth place in the team standings.
Perkins also had 12 rebounds for a double-double alongside five assists and one block.
Belga and Javee Mocon each scored 17 markers for the Elasto Painters, who fell to sixth place at 4-3.
Mocon also got a double-double as he grabbed 12 rebounds, alongside three assists, one steal, and one block, but he too was accounted for seven of their 19 total turnovers.
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