JEFF Chan is not yet 100 percent due to a recent bout with flu. Still, he sure looked like premium gold Sunday.
The veteran gunner came off the bench to scatter 18 points and spark Phoenix to a 102-95 victory over NLEX, the Fuel Masters' second straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With Matthew Wright and the other Fuel Masters also finding their touch and their defense kicking in when it mattered, they managed to lead by as many as 17 points before easily fending off the Road Warriors' late surge.
In the end, Phoenix followed up its 125-102 victory over Kia last Dec. 27 and drew level with its latest victim at 2-1.
Winning coach Louie Alas said it was his team generally executing its defensive gameplan that pointed them to victory.
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"The key there was we were able to contain their perimeter guys," said Alas. "Alam naman ng lahat na ang strength ng NLEX is their perimeter guys. Hindi mo ma-i-stop, ma-limit mo lang production nila and I guess we were able to do that."
Only Larry Fonacier was able to consistently puncture Phoenixs defense with a gamehigh 22 points, but the likes of Kiefer Ravena and Juami Tiongson were effectively stifled.
Ravena came off the bench for eight points, 11 below his average, although he did have seven feeds. Tiongson scored 12 points but none in the second half.
In contrast, Wright overcame early shooting woes to finish with 19 points in taking the cue from Chan, who made his first seven field goal tries through a variety of brilliant shot making.
RJ Jazul added 15 and Jason Perkins 14 capped by a baseline jumper off a Wright feed that made it a 100-92 count that proved safe enough inside the last 1:45.
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TheFuel Masters harassed their foes to a total 18 turnovers and converted those into 16 points. They also finished with an 8-for-21 clip from beyond the arc after missing their first five three-point attempts.
Phoenix actually trailed by as much as 10 points in the early goings but its defense started paying dividends and sparked its offense that led to the Fuel Masters turning the odds in their favor.
Jazul opened up the final canto with a drive to make it a 90-77 game, but the Fuel Masters' offense sputtered as they went 1-for-10 from the field while Cyrus Baguio and Fonacier led a Road Warriors surge that brought them within 88-92.
"?yon ang tendency, na kapag nasa loob second unit may tendency na bumaba ang energy level," admitted Alas. "Pero once bumalik mga starters, balik din laro."
Wright typified that by scoring on a jumper, Jazul followed suit with two free throws and Wright followed up his own miss with a looper to make it a 98-90 separation.
The scores:
PHOENIX 102 - Wright 19, Chan 18, Jazul 15, Perkins 14, Chua 12, Kramer 10, Revilla 6, Wilson 2, Intal 2, Dehesa 2, Eriobu 2, Alolino 0.
NLEX 95 - Fonacier 22, Tiongson 12, Miranda 10, Quinahan 10, Al-Hussaini 8, Ravena 8, Taulava 6, Alas 6, Baguio 4, Gotladera 3, Ighalo 3, Buenafe 3.
Quarters: 19-25, 54-53, 88-73, 102-95.
