Cone laments Isaac Go going down with injury in Ginebra win

This was the word Tim Cone used to describe Barangay Ginebra’s huge win over Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, as Gin Kings big man Isaac Go appeared to hurt his knee.

Ginebra pulled away from Rain or Shine, 124-102, to force a three-way tie on top of Group B play with the Elasto Painters and the San Miguel Beermen.

Go, however, seemingly injured his knee in the first quarter as he defended Felix Lemetti.

Lemetti, with 3:31 left in the first frame, danced with the big man and stepped back from way beyond. As the Rain or Shine guard launched from deep, Go closed out and appeared to hurt his knee.

The 28-year-old center, who was traded in the offseason, held his right knee as he grimaced in pain.

He was eventually helped off the court and was unable to return.

After the win, Cone emphasized just how big of a loss Go was.

“First of all, the win is a little bittersweet because we don’t know how Isaac Go is at this point. We don’t know the severity of his injury, some kind of a knee injury, we don’t know the severity of it,” he told reporters.

“So that’s what makes this one really bittersweet. Kinda like we won the battle but we lost the war, losing Isaac. He was a big part of what we were trying to build,” he added. 

While his numbers are not that eye-popping, Go has been a huge part in the middle for the Gin Kings this conference.

If he is unable to play against San Miguel on Sunday, they will have a harder time matching up against June Mar Fajardo.

The Gin Kings and the Beermen will try to go for the solo lead of Group B play at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in a marquee matchup at 7:30 p.m.

“San Miguel, we escaped with a win the last time we played them and the last couple teams we played, Blackwater and Rain or Shine, they beat us so we have something coming in and motivate us,” Cone said.

“Now, we’re coming off a win with San Miguel so we’re hoping to see if we can find that same intensity level coming in and playing against San Miguel,” he added.

Ginebra will try to handle Jordan Adams, who just scored 49 points and Fajardo, who made 10-of-10 field goals both against the Phoenix Fuel Masters, along with Marcio Lassiter, who is three 3-pointers away from breaking the 3-point record of Jimmy Alapag.

“We always have tremendous battles with San Miguel. We oftentimes come out at the short end, we don’t beat them as much as they beat us but you know we’re capable and we’re coming into this game hoping we can repeat.”

The Gin Kings will try to repeat against the Beermen, who they defeated last month in their first-round matchup.