ARIZONA Reid is back.
The resident import of San Miguel Beer muscled his way to a game-high 41 points and 10 rebounds as he powered the Beermen to a 124-113 rout of Phoenix and started their title defense with a bang in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
One of the finest imports in the league the past few years, Reid continued to show his dominance, exploding in the second half as he scored 15 points in the third and 22 overall in the final 24 minutes of action to help San Miguel turn a double-digit deficit in the third to a comfortable finish in the fourth.
“This win is important to us because we want to have a good start,” added San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria.
With the Beermen down, 81-93, with over four minutes left in the third, Reid took matters on his own and carried San Miguel’s fightback, racking up 10 straight points bridging the last two periods to give his team a 103-94 lead with just under 11 minutes to go.
San Miguel, overall, manufactured a deadly 22-1 blast to get that advantage and never looked back as Phoenix, which was playing really well before Reid’s explosion, wasn’t able to recover in the final minutes.
The defending champions started their quest for a second straight title on the right note with this 1-0 start, while the Fuel Masters have lost their second game in the last three days to start at 0-2 at the bottom of the pack.
Reid said he badly wanted to win this opening game for San Miguel to get a good start.
“Phoenix played hard, but we just got to win,” said Reid. “Last time last season, we had a 0-2 start and I wanted to get this first win on our belt now.”
Despite being depleted, San Miguel, which is playing sans big men Arwind Santos and Gabby Espinas as they are out due to knee injuries, managed to find a way to win despite a tough challenge from the improving Phoenix Petroleum.
Reid got plenty of support from his pals as well, with June Mar Fajardo adding 21 points and Alex Cabagnot scoring 20 for the Beermen.
Marcus Simmons led the still-winless Phoenix with his team-high 28 points.
It was a game of spurts through the first three quarters, but San Miguel’s decisive run in between the third and fourth periods was the big difference.
The scores:
SMB 124 —Reid 41, Fajardo 21, Cabagnot 20, Lassiter 12, Heruela 8, David 7, Tubid 5, Reyes 4, Ross 4, Arana 2, Semerad 0.
Phoenix 113—Simmons 28, Torres 19, Baguio 13, Cruz 13, Enciso 12, Lee 9, Caperal 7, J Wilson 7, Pennisi 3, Ron BUenafe 2, Sorongon 0, W Wilson 0.
Quarters: 33-29; 64-69; 97-93; 124-113.