MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – June Mar Fajardo's anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) remain intact and the team is "confident" about the big man's chances of playing in the PBA Finals, San Miguel Beer team manager Gee Abanilla said on Saturday, January 16.
"According to our team of doctors, June Mar's ACL and PCL are intact," Abanilla told Rappler in a text message. "We are confident that he will be okay for the series."
Abanilla has yet to clarify whether or not Fajardo will sit out a game or play the entire best-of-7 finals series between San Miguel and the Alaska Aces.
The official results of Fajardo's MRI will reportedly be out on Monday, January 18.
Fajardo, 26, hurt his knee early in the third period in Game 6 of the semifinals between the Beermen and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Friday, January 15.
The 6'10 center's left knee buckled in a rebound play as Jireh Ibañes boxed him out underneath the basket.
The reigning back-to-back MVP was in visible pain afterwards and could not stand up. He was carried off the court in a stretcher and an ambulance took him to St Luke's Medical Center at Bonifacio Global City for an MRI late Friday night. He left the game with 14 points and 12 rebounds in over 25 minutes as his team defeated the Painters to advance to the finals.
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<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here's the video of Fajardo getting stretchered out of the playing court. Hurt his knee <a href="https://twitter.com/rapplerdotcom">@rapplerdotcom</a> <a href="https://t.co/xwU8DwYJmq">pic.twitter.com/xwU8DwYJmq</a></p>— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) <a href="https://twitter.com/naveenganglani/status/687972879560867841">January 15, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Fajardo is San Miguel's leading scorer and losing him would be a huge blow for the Beermen's title defense this conference. He averaged 34.8 points and 16.4 rebounds in the first 5 games of the semifinals.
A major injury for Fajardo also impacts Philippine national team Gilas Pilipinas as it aims for a Rio Olympics slot in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July.
Game 1 of the finals rematch between the Aces and the Beermen tips off Sunday, January 17 at 5 pm. (SCHEDULE: 2016 PBA Philippine Cup Finals – Alaska vs San Miguel)
{source}<div id="fb-root"></div><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><div class="fb-video" data-allowfullscreen="1" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/navsg/videos/10153726727066265/"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/navsg/videos/10153726727066265/"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/navsg/videos/10153726727066265/"></a><p>Fajardo (knee) stretchered, will be brought to hospital</p>Posted by <a href="#" role="button">Naveen K. Ganglani</a> on Friday, 15 January 2016</blockquote></div></div>{/source}
– Rappler.com