Breaking point: Austria bares verbal tussle with Perez

Even teammates in the heat of competition get chippy.

In San Miguel Beer’s case, head coach Leo Austria and prized guard CJ Perez got into each other’s heads.

The altercation turned out for the better, however, as it brought the Beermen back to life for a 2-1 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup finals series lead over TNT.

Perez came up with clutch baskets in a killer endgame scoring binge to save the defending champion from collapse, 95-89, in Game 3 of the best-of-seven all-Filipino showdown Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The series has been very physical and mentally draining.

Behind the scenes, teams are fighting their own battles inside.

Austria disclosed that there was tension between him and Perez during the first half, which looked promising for the San Miguel after building a 33-16 lead in the first quarter, only to go awry in the next canto as the Tropang 5G went ahead by six entering the break.

“Earlier, during the first half, we had a little altercation,” Austria said of him butting heads with Perez.

“I have to respect everybody because what I feel is that he wants to win.  But I want to let him know that I'm the coach of the team and they should respect me also. And then he apologized. It turned out for the better.”

The spat stemmed from Perez wanting more minutes on the floor while Austria was trying to stop the Beermen’s second-quarter bleeding.

“I know he’s thinking of winning. He wants to win by playing a lot of time. But as a coach, I know what’s happening,” Austria said.

The clash turned into a rallying point that brought order back to San Miguel.

“What happened was, because of that incident, he got refocused,” Austria added.

Perez went into the second half all pumped up, taking charge during crunch time.

After going 1-of-8 in the first half for only three points, Perez scored 17 of his team-high 20 points in the final period highlighted by a seven-point barrage.

He hit a step-back four-pointer with 41 seconds left to give San Miguel a 90-89 advantage before lacing with 12 ticks left on the clock.

“You can see that he really wants to win. That’s the kind of player we want to have, especially in this kind of championship,” Austria said.

“In the last possessions, I wanted him to get all the touches. Although that play wasn’t for him because we’re after a quick two or a quick three, he had the opportunity. And that kind of shot, he’s been doing that practice and in the game.”

Putting their misunderstanding behind, Perez said all he wants is to repay the trust given to him.

“Actually, I just did what I could do,” Perez said.

“I struggled in the first half, but the coaches' trust in me remained. I just responded to our coaches’ trust.”

San Miguel shoots to take one more step closer to a repeat crown in Game 4 on Wednesday at the same venue.