Ray Parks Jr. has moved into the top of the PBA Philippine Cup Statistical Points race following a sterling performance in TNT’s semifinal series victory over Phoenix Super LPG.
Parks compiled 38.3 SPs through the end of the semis to gain top spot while boosting his chances of being named the best player inside the Smart Clark Giga City bubble.
He is ahead of his rival Calvin Abueva, who entered the derby after compiling the necessary requirement of playing 70 percent of the season in order to become eligible for individual awards.
Abueva placed second after the semis with 37.1 after his all-around effort in a losing effort for Phoenix which fell short to Parks and TNT in five games.
Terrafirma’s CJ Perez dropped to third at 35.7 while Phoenix’s Matthew Wright, the frontrunner after the eliminations, slid to fourth with 35.6 after his numbers dipped in the semis due to a sprained ankle that forced him to play limited minutes earlier in the semis.
In fifth place is NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger (34.6) while TNT’s RR Pogoy (33.5), Ginebra’s Stanley Pringle (33.1), Phoenix’s Jason Perkins (32.7) and Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson (32.7) round out the top 10.
The PBA has yet to determine the individual awards that will be handed out to the top performers inside the bubble, given that the season was reduced to only the Philippine Cup instead of the traditional three-conference calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regardless if it is the season Most Valuable Player or a special award, Parks already has the edge with the way he performed against Phoenix.
Parks produced 27.9 points on a 50-percent clip with 8.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.8 steals in the semifinals, raising his season average to 22.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per contest.
He is also remembered for keeping it cool against Abueva despite their beef stemming from an incident where the latter made a lewd gesture at Parks’ girlfriend Maika Rivera during a game in May 2019.
Abueva entered the race after playing 12 of Phoenix’s 17 games in the bubble with averages of 15.4 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.7 steals. It was Abueva’s first conference after a 16-month suspension due to the incident with Rivera and his clothesline on TNT import Terrence Jones.
The semis saw Abueva register 19.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks against TNT despite Phoenix falling short of making the finals for the first time in franchise history.