(With additional reporting from Brian Callada.)
Rivals TNT Tropang 5G and San Miguel Beermen are on a collision course on Saturday, August 1, in a marquee matchup at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. But the two teams could each be a scorer down after Jordan Heading and Cjay Perez suffered injuries.
Heading Escapes Serious Injury
Jordan Heading, one of the PBA’s top shooters, sustained a shoulder injury in the third quarter of TNT’s 110-107 stunner over the Converge FiberXers just last Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
But, after the game, Heading allayed fears of a serious injury, intimating that it could just be “a bad knock from behind.”
“Well it didn’t get dislocated so that’s good. I was a little worried about that, but we’re gonna get an MRI tonight to really figure out what happened,” Heading told reporters. “I think I really just had a bad knock from behind. I don’t know if my shoulder separated there or what happened, but I just couldn’t raise my shooting hand at all.”
At the time of his injury, Heading already had 20 points in just 21 minutes.
Perez Sustains Groin Tear
Cjay Perez, on the other hand, might have a more serious injury, which San Miguel interim coach Martin described as a new one for The Predator. Even so, Martin insisted that Perez would be playing for sure if the stakes were higher—as in the playoffs.
“Bagong injury siya. It’s a pulled groin that showed up [in the x-ray],” he said. “CJ doesn’t feel [the] pain so much, but do’n sa x-ray, parang nakita na may konting punit but sa kaniya. If it was the finals or semis, maglalaro siya, so we’re just trying to manage his injury.”
Perez sustained the injury in San Miguel’s 110-96 loss to the NLEX Road Warriors on Sunday in what was then a battle of the only unbeaten teams in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
San Miguel has since played one game—a 143-105 blowout of the Titan Ultra Giant Risers—since that loss, and Perez didn’t play.
Whether he—and Heading, for that matter—plays on Saturday will be a game-time decision.
