San Miguel Beer center June Mar Fajardo has allayed concerns about his aching shoulders as the defending champion enters the crucial stretch of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup semifinals against Barangay Ginebra.

The nine-time Most Valuable Player has been playing through pain on both shoulders since the quarterfinals against NLEX, but the Beermen behemoth believes that with a little rest, he’ll be alright.

“It’s OK. It just needs some rest and some release,” Fajardo said after San Miguel Beer regained the best-of-seven series lead with a 91-85 Game 3 victory Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“It just got stretched a but it’s part of the game. I can’t let this bother me because it’s the semifinals,” he added.

“Again, it just needs some rest, release, and some anti-inflammatory medicines.”

Fajardo played over 38 minutes but was limited to a playoffs-low six points in a 1-of-8 shooting from the field. He, however, continued to lord over the boards with 19 rebounds.

The 6-foot-10 big man said that his shoulder pain has nothing to do with his quiet night and a drop in his average of 24 points and 23 rebounds in the first two Final Four games.

His stats line in Game 3 also snapped his record-setting three straight 20-20 outings.

“Credit to Ginebra for putting up a good defense. That’s what happened,” he said.

Fajardo admitted that he had a hard time getting touches. In plays where he got the ball, the Kings made it hard for him to get good looks.

With the Cebuano star struggling on offense, Don Trollano stepped up and dropped 33 points, including timely baskets down the stretch to stave off the Kings’ late fightback.

“Good thing my teammates stepped up. They were having a good night so what I did was just contribute to rebounds and finding open teammates. I just played decoy,” Fajardo said.

The Beermen aim for a 3-1 series lead at the Mall of Asia Arena today.