Red Claws Three-Ball Leads Maine to Victory
February 7, 2015 - NBA G League (G League)
Maine Celtics News Release
Portland, ME- The Maine Red Claws, presented by Unum, tied team records with 22 three pointers made and 48 three point attempts and never relinquished the lead as they rode the long ball to the 121-108 win over the Westchester Knicks on Saturday night at the Portland Expo Building. With the win, the Red Claws snapped a three game home losing streak. Omari Johnson finished with a season-high 30 points, 19 of those coming in the 3rd quarter.
Maine (19-10) came out firing early, with Ralph Sampson converting a three point play before Andre Dawkins, on assignment from the Boston Celtics, and Chris Babb, in his first game back from a five game injury, both converted three pointers to open up a 9-0 lead in the opening two minutes. Darnell Jackson scored the first six points for the Knicks (9-21), but the Red Claws shot 52% from the field and 57.1% from downtown to open up a 37-19 first quarter lead.
Dawkins opened the second quarter for Maine with a three and Sampson converted a steal and a layup to open a 23 point lead, only to be matched by a Walker Russell three and a Jackson dunk. The teams would trade baskets throughout the quarter. Orlando Sanchez was a spark off the Knicks bench with seven in the quarter, while Christian Watford's five points led a balanced Red Claws attack that saw Maine take a 65-48 lead into the locker room.
Red Claw forward Omari Johnson came out of the locker room hot, scoring 19 third quarter points on 7-8 shooting (4-4 from deep). Russell chipped in 10 for Westchester, but Maine's shooting (59.1%) was on point while their defense cooled off the Knicks (38.1%) to take a 100-75 lead into the final quarter. This is the third time this season that Maine has reached 100 points in the first three quarters.
The Knicks made things interesting in the final 12 minutes, with Thanasis Antetokounmpo scoring 12 points and Jackson adding eight more as part of a 33 point frenzy, but the Red Claws lead never slipped below nine as Andre Stringer, coming off an injury that sidelined him for seven games buried a three with 10 seconds remaining to ice the victory for Maine.
Antetokounmpo led the Knicks with 30 points, six rebounds and three steals. Jackson (22 points, 12 rebounds), Russell (22 points, 11 assists), Ben Strong (12) and Sanchez (eight points, seven rebounds) led the Knicks.
Johnson (30 points, 15 rebounds) led the Red Claws. Babb (20 points, three assists, three steals), Watford (16 points, 9-9 free throws), Dawkins (13), and Sampson (seven points, seven rebounds) led the Red Claws. Stringer, Jason Calliste and Rodney McGruder also had seven points each in the contest.
The Red Claws are back in action tomorrow night at 5:00pm when they take on the Delaware 87ers at the Expo. The Knicks are off until the 17th, when they take on the 87ers at the Bob Carpenter Center in Delaware.
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