Having a do-or-die mindset in Game 6 gave San Miguel the extra push it needed to double its efforts and the Beermen delivered accordingly with a 114-96 win against the TNT Tropang Giga in their best-of-seven Philippine Cup Finals series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday night, Sept. 2.
This time around, Marcio Lassiter became a scoring machine and caught fire from beyond the arc, producing 23 points on an 8-of-11 shooting built six three-pointers.
It was a total team effort though, with key baskets from Lassiter, CJ Perez, and Simon Enciso, but what separated SMB from TNT was its aggression in the paint and hot-shooting on the three-point range.
"Coming into this game was do-or-die. There's no tomorrow so we all had to come out with a direction," said the eight-time PBA champion. "Being able to stay ready, knowing that each possession's gonna count."
The Beermen relatively outscored the Tropang Giga from beyond the arc, firing 16-of-35 and yielding 45 percent.
TNT, for its part, struggled and only made eight three-pointers out of their 35 attempts for 22 percent.
SMB also capitalized on the absence of Jayson Castro, who is nursing a sprained ankle, as well as the dismal performance of Mikey Williams, who was only limited to two points and only listed 1-of-13 from the field.
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Apart from those factors, Lassiter also took inspiration from his wife who is about to give birth to their fifth child on Saturday, Sept. 3.
As Game 7 kicks off on Sunday, Sept. 4, Lassiter is just grateful to experience two special moments in his life over the weekend.
"Take it at the moment, be in the moment. You know, it's gonna be a special day and I just have to know that come game time, when I'm with coach (Leo Austria) just being also mentally prepared," said SMB veteran.
"Just being thankful for the situation, just praying for a special delivery and everything to be good. That's taken care of on Saturday and Sunday is a new day. I'm just gonna take it at the moment just to be in that moment. It's gonna be a very special day come game time."