TNT SUFFERS TOUGH BREAK
Ray has left calf strain and is highly doubtful to play on Wednesday
CLARK — TNT Tropang Giga’s campaign in the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup best-of-seven finals against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel suffered a setback following the injury of superstar Ray Parks.
Parks, the frontrunner in the Most Valuable Player (MVP) derby, suffered a left calf strain in their 94-100 overtime setback to the Kings last Sunday at the Angeles University Foundation Arena here.
He fired 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals in 43 minutes of action before fouling out in overtime. TNT head coach Bong Ravena said Parks remains doubtful to see action in crucial Game 2 on Wednesday.
So, he’s really doubtful on Wednesday.
“Ray has left calf strain and is highly doubtful to play on Wednesday. We are hoping he could play on Friday,” said Ravena, who is looking to avoid a 0-2 hole.
“He was already checked up last Sunday night. So, he’s really doubtful on Wednesday.”
Ravena said they could not afford missing Parks since he has been lifting them offensively in this special season that is being played inside a quarantine bubble.
In fact, he is leading the MVP race with 38.3 statistical points after posting impressive averages of 22.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per outing. “Hopefully, he’ll miss one game only. We’ll still see because there’s still two days left before the game. We are just really hoping that he can come back immediately,” Ravena said.
“Ray is very important to us. He’s really been lifting our team. He’s a big factor to our team.” IAN SUYU