SAN Miguel Beer sharpshooter Marcio Lassiter’s chase to be the pro league’s top three-point shooter continued to gain ground after the Beermen throttled the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 106-89 in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal game last Sunday night.
The sweet-shooting Beerman converted three of six three-point tries to surge past Ginebra playmaker LA Tenorio at No. 3 in the all-time list while helping SMB take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.
Lassiter improved his total to 1,219 triples, one more than Tenorio, the third player he has passed after former Shell playmaker Ronnie Magsanoc and Rain or Shine legend and two-time PBA MVP James Yap this conference alone.
While reveling in the milestone, Lassiter had nothing but praises for the Barangay Ginebra skipper.
“LA is one of the true legends and was already a great point guard when I came to the league. I looked up to him so it’s great to just be mentioned alongside his name,” he said.
“I’m truly honored and, hopefully, I can just keep going,” he added. “I don’t know how long it can go on, but we’ll see.”
He needs just 23 more three-pointers to tie Allan Caidic at No. 2 (1,242) and 31 to catch up with the now-retired pacesetter, Jimmy Alapag (1,250).
“They (Caidic and Alapag) are obviously two GOATs. But I feel like Caidic is the greatest shooter of all time,” he said of the “Triggerman.”
In the event he eclipses both players, Lassiter said that “when that time comes, it will be a very special one for me.”
