The SMB superstar played his most minutes since the Philippine Cup semifinals or before he injured his knee, scoring 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go with one assist, one steal, one block, and only one turnover in 30 minutes.
“Medyo mabigat pa rin, nagta-tight talaga pag sobra sa takbo. Kailangan talaga i-stretch pa and mag-strengthening pa, pero almost there na,” Fajardo bared. “Ninety percent siguro.”
“Sana tuloy tuloy na yung magandang game,” the reigning MVP added.
Fajardo, who averaged just 23.3 minutes in three games in the all-Filipino conference finals, registered eight of his output in the second quarter where the Beermen started to pull away.
“Malaking tulong din sa amin 'yung experience and kumpiyansa namin sa finals,” the 6-foot-10 slotman said.
Eager to avoid last year’s championship hangover in the midseason tournament, the Beermen refused to let up after taking the lead late in the first quarter as they built leads that ballooned to 25 points.
“Laging nire-remind sa amin ni coach yung nangyari sa amin last year,” Fajardo said.
“(At) i-push pa ng todo, na tambakan pa yung Blackwater,” he added. “Alam naman kasi namin na dapat nire-respeto namin sila and hindi namin sila dapat i-underestimate.”