Six Celtics Score in Double Figures as Maine Dominates Delaware

WILMINGTON, Dela. - JD Davison's second double-double of the season led Maine to a dominant 130-111 victory in Delaware as the Celtics claimed their first win of the 2024 NBA G League season.

For the second consecutive game, Davison scored 30 points or more, finishing with 30 points and 14 assists on Monday night. The third-year guard was just two assists shy of matching his personal single-game best of 16, and inches closer to the franchise's all-time career scoring record. After Monday night's performance, Davison stands just five points shy of Chris Wright's career scoring record of 1,591 points.

Baylor Scheierman had another big night with 24 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. The sharpshooter went 6-10 from beyond the arc and 8-14 overall. Dmytro Skapintsev was highly efficient around the cup, scoring 16 points on 8-10 shooting while snagging 10 rebounds. In total, six Maine players scored in double figures. Lester Quinones led Delaware with a team-high 30 points. Judah Mintz added 22 for the Blue Coats.

Monday night’s game was a homecoming of sorts for Celtics Head Coach Tyler Lashbrook, who previously spent nine seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers organization, the affiliate team of the Blue Coats. The victory was the first career win for Lashbrook as a head coach.

Delaware didn’t waste any time getting their offense started. The Blue Coats jumped out to a 13-5 advantage early in the first quarter. Davison also didn’t delay, responding to the Delaware run by scoring 10 of Maine’s first 13 points. The Celtics erased the eight-point deficit to claim their first lead of the game off a Ron Harper Jr. slam with 5:23 to go in the quarter. Jordan Schakel added seven points off the bench as Maine led Delaware 30-26 after the first. Schakel finished with 15 points in the contest.

Scheierman kicked off the second quarter with a lay-up in transition as Maine extended their lead to eight points. It was the start of a strong quarter for the Celtics rookie, who knocked down a pair of three-pointers and scored 10 points in the second quarter. After briefly giving the lead back to the Blue Coats, Maine finished the half shooting 47% from the field and carried a 64-57 lead into the break.  

Scheierman started the second half with another one from deep to give the Celtics their first double-digit advantage of the night. Davison followed suit, knocking down a three of his own to force a quick timeout by the Blue Coats. The hot shooting was contagious, as multiple Celtics knocked down triples to extend the lead to 18 with 9:13 to play in the third quarter. Maine buried 15 of 31 shots (48.4%) from deep in the first three quarters and would never look back. Davison secured his second double-double of the season by the end of the third quarter, connecting on lob passes to Dmytro Skapintsev and Anton Watson. Scheierman put an exclamation point on the dominant quarter with a buzzer-beating shot from beyond half court as Boston’s first-round draft pick scored 12 in the third and Maine carried a commanding 23-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The Celtics took care of business in the fourth, maintaining a large lead of 20-points or more over the Blue Coats for the majority of the quarter. Coach Lashbrook was able to empty the bench for the final three minutes of the game as Maine rolled past Delaware 130-11 to improve to 1-1 on the season.

UP NEXT: Maine (1-1) will look to build off their first victory of the season when the Celtics return to the Portland Expo on Friday, November 15 for the team’s home opener against the Westchester Knicks. Tickets are available here.