With their season on the line, Blackwater Elite were expected to rely on Henry Walker to take the game-winning shot against the Meralco Bolts in their Oppo PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinal matchup.
But the NBA veteran instead only served as decoy with nine seconds left. He gave way to Allein Maliksi who didn’t disappoint and buried a cold-blooded jumper to help the Elite upset the Bolts.
“It’s fitting that my guy, (Allein) Maliksi, hit the game-winner. It was great,” Walker told InterAksyon.
While Walker made big shots, Maliksi and teammates Mike Digregorio and Roi Sumang were making the Elite unpredictable in offense.
Walker said he wasn’t surprised that they delivered when Blackwater needed them most.
“I was telling them in the last three-minute mark Roi, Mike, Maliksi, one of them is gonna hit a game-winner. Those guys are ready for the challenge. I kinda paced myself the first three quarters because those guys are playing so fluid and keeping us in the ball game,” Walker said.
“They allowed them to play me one-on-one. Nobody could double because those guys were playing at a high level and I had a lot of success in the fourth quarter. In the end, I just went back to them because I have confidence in my team. The whole time I’ve been here, I kept telling them that I can’t do it by myself. We have to do it collectively.”