MANILA, Philippines – Red-hot and riding on a 3-0 start in the PBA Governors’ Cup, the last thing Magnolia wants is to see star guard Paul Lee suffer a major injury.

Magnolia has its fingers crossed after Lee hurt his knee in the fourth quarter of their 117-94 whipping of Barangay Ginebra in another edition of the Christmas Clasico on Saturday, December 25.

Lee finished 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, but exited abruptly with five minutes left as he slipped on his own during a non-contact play.

“He said he is okay,” said Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero in a mix of Filipino and English. “Hopefully it is nothing serious because we do not want Paul to get hurt.”

Lee is coming off a shoulder injury that compromised his performance in their finals loss to TNT in the previous Philippine Cup.

But after being given extra time to recover during the break, the former Best Player of the Conference has proven to be a potent weapon, averaging 13.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists as Magnolia seized the top spot in the team standings.

“Paul already had a hard time last conference because of his injury. So we pray that nothing bad happens to him,” Victolero said.

Fortunately for Lee and Magnolia, their rout of Ginebra is their last game of the year as they take a well-deserved break before they return to action on January 5 to face Blackwater, which has lost a record 24 straight matches. – Rappler.com