Red Claws Can't Handle Bulls Attack
December 14, 2017 - NBA G League (G League)
Maine Celtics News Release
Hoffman Estates, IL - The Maine Red Claws, presented by Unum, struggled to score early and couldn't catch up to the Windy City Bulls today, falling 145-107.
The Bulls (5-6) got a prolific scoring performance by Chicago Bulls Two-Way Player Antonio Blakeney, who finished with 46 points on 16-24 shooting in 31 minutes. He did not play in the 4th quarter. Blakeney is the 4th player to score 40 points against the Red Claws in 13 games this season.
The Red Claws (7-6) were shorthanded - both Boston Celtics Two-Way Player Jabari Bird and Devin Williams were out with injuries. Maine was led by Celtics Two-Way Player Kadeem Allen with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Trey Davis added 16 points, 7 boards and 7 assists. L.J. Peak and Jon Holmes scored 14 points each, with Holmes grabbing 10 rebounds as well, and Daniel Dixon and Daniel Dingle each finished with 13 poitns.
The teams showed no rust from the early start, trading baskets early. Chicago Bulls Two-Way Player Antonio Blakeney was absolutely on fire early, making 13 of Windy City's first 15 points. The Bulls opened up an early 20-9 lead. The Red Claws went on a 7-0 run, with Jon Holmes leading the way. Holmes had 8 points early, but still the deficit was 28-16. Windy City out-scored Maine 11-4 the rest of the way, taking a 39-20 lead after 1 quarter of play.
In the 2nd, former Red Claw Karrington Ward drained a three, but L.J. Peak answered with one of his own. Peak helped lead the Claws on a 10-3 run to cut it to 42-32. Kay Felder stopped the bleeding with a fast break bucket. The Bulls proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to take a 52-32 lead. Allen and the Claws then followed that up with a 9-0 run. Still, back-to-back threes by Ryan Arcidiacono extended Windy City's lead back to 19. The Bulls would extend from there - taking a 72-48 lead into the break. Maine shot just 33% from the floor (13-40) in the first half and just 11% (2-18) from downtown. Windy City shot 45% (25-55) from the field, and 39% (9-23) from beyond the arc. Blakeney had 27 points at halftime for the Bulls.
The second half started the same way for Windy City - Tyler Harris dropped in a floater to make the lead 29. 3:00 into the 3rd, the lead was 84-54. Blakeney dropped in yet another bucket to extend the lead to 95-62 with 6:15 to go in the 3rd. The Bulls cruised for the final quarter and a half. The Red Claws finished the game shooting 39% (32-82) from the field, 28% (11-39) from deep, and 32-38 from the free throw line. Windy City shot 52% (51-98) from the floor, 44% (15-34) from downtown, and 28-40 from the charity stripe.
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NBA G League Stories from December 14, 2017
- Red Claws Can't Handle Bulls Attack - Maine Celtics
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