Phelps, Phoenix decimate Road Warriors

The rest of the PBA Governors Cup field should be revising their scouting reports on Eugene Phelps right about now.

That after Phelps gave a glimpse of another facet of his game while powering Phoenix to a 123-97 blowout victory over hapless NLEX Wednesday that stoked the Fuel Masters’ drive for a top four finish in the season-ending tourney’s eliminations at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Phelps went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, adding on to his usual repertoire of barreling drives, irrepressible putbacks and mid-range jumpers that all led to a 51-point, 20-rebound performance in just a little over 38 minutes of action.

With Calvin Abueva and Matthew Wright joining the fray, Phoenix surged to a second straight win and sixth in eight games overall.

More wins in their last three elimination round games and the Fuel Masters could even realize a finish inside the magic circle, which carries with it a twice-to-beat advantage over a lower-ranked opponent in the eight-team quarterfinals.

“Big bounce-back game kasi ‘yung talo namin sa Ginebra one-possession game lang,” said Phoenix coach Louie Alas, who got a fitting gift right on his 55th birthday.

“We’re back and I like our situation.”

The loss was NLEX’s second straight, dropping it to an even 4-4 slate and a tie with idle TNT.

Aaron Fuller finished with 38 points and 14 rebounds despite dislocating his left index finger right in the first quarter but got little help from the usual team stalwarts.

Bong Galanza wound up with 13 points as surprise starter but Larry Fonacier, averaging 22.5 points on 65 percent shooting the last two games, was held to just 10 points on a 4-of-10 clip. —