IMPORT Tony Bishop is not bothered by a knee injury going into the Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings’ last remaining game in the Philippine Basketball Association Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup.
The 6’8” Bishop, a Panamanian-American cager playing for the Gin Kings since last year, will just have to power through with it.
Bishop said this after the Gin Kings pulled off a 103-93 swamping of NorthPort Batang Pier on Sunday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Going into the playoffs, I don’t know anybody who’s not banged up,” he added. “For me, I’ll continue to work hard. I’ll continue to get therapy. That’s part of basketball, part of being a pro. Let’s just take it day by day,” said Bishop, who hurt his knee during practice and before the game.
The 34-year-old Bishop sank 26 points, to go with 16 rebounds, two assists, five steals, and a block in Ginebra’s climb to a share of the fourth spot with San Miguel in the standings with the same 7-3 win-loss slate.
So far, Magnolia, which has a 9-2 win-loss slate, is sure of a spot in the top four of the quarterfinals.
The three other spots in the upper half of the quarterfinals are still being contested by Meralco (7-2), Phoenix Super LPG (7-2), San Miguel Beer and Ginebra.
With Magnolia already having a twice-to-beat advantage, the no. 2 squad will also get the same privilege and this is what’s stake for the Gin Kings at this time.
“We’re a game away from the playoffs. And we worked hard to get to this point. So that’s our advantage. We have that continuity in what we do. It’s a real advantage with Tony Bishop and that continuity,” said Gin Kings coach Tim Cone.
Bishop joined hands with Maverick Ahanmisi, shooting seven points in the last period, while Ahanmisi added eight of his 13-point tally to bring pull the Gin Kings out of a 77-72 edge into a 10-point edge when it was over.
Earlier, Bennie Boatwright made an impression as the Beermen pulled off a 132-110 whipping of the Terrafirma Dyip.
The 6’10” Boatwright shot 51 game-high points, the most scored by a Beerman has done in three years. This went with the 12 rebounds he hauled in the 40 or more minutes that he was on the floor.
Don Trollano added 22 points for the Beermen, who marched to their fourth win in a row to keep up with the Gin Kings.