GAME PREVIEW: Celtics Clash with College Park

PORTLAND, Maine. - The Maine Celtics face the College Park Skyhawks in the first of three games in four days at the Portland Expo on Thursday.

Maine (5-5) is currently ninth in the Eastern Conference standings. College Park (5-2) is in second. This will be the fourth meeting between the two teams. The Skyhawks won both meetings in Georgia during the Tip-Off Tournament and Maine topped College Park in the third meeting, 116-110 in Orlando, Florida at the Winter Showcase. JD Davison scored a career-high 46 points on December 4th earlier this season against the Skyhawks.

The Celtics are coming off an impressive 122-118 win over the Capital City Go-Go on Monday. Boston Celtics assignment player Baylor Scheierman led Maine with a near triple-double with 25 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. Davison added 25 points to go with six assists and four rebounds. Jay Scrubb provided 21 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals off the bench for Maine. It was just the second time this season that three Maine Celtics scored 20 or more points.

College Park has won five of their last six games, most recently beating the Cleveland Charge 112-108 on Tuesday. Skyhawks were led by 34 points and 13 rebounds from Kevon Harris. Atlanta Hawks assignment player Mouhamed Gueye posted a double-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds. The Skyhawks are also led by Two-Way Players Dominick Barlow, Daeqwon Plowden, and Keaton Wallace. Wallace and Plowden made NBA headlines on Wednesday night, combining for 46 points in an Atlanta Hawks win over Chicago. Wallace scored a career-high 27 points and Plowden scored 19 points 7-of-8 shooting from the field in his NBA debut. College Park will lean on their depth again in Thursday and Saturday's games. The Skyhawks boast eight players on the roster who are averaging nine points or more this season, led by 19.9 points per game from Harris.

FAMILIAR FACES: College Park guard Jordan Bowden played 9 games for Maine last season, averaging 7.1 points per game before getting
traded to the Skyhawks. Forward Joey Hauser is the younger brother of former Maine Celtics Two-Way Player and current Boston Celtics
sharpshooter Sam Hauser.

CHARITY STRIPE: College Park is third in the G League in team free throw percentage at 78.6%. Maine currently is 22nd at 71.8%.

CRASHING THE BOARDS: While Maine is 8th in the G League in offensive rebounding (13.8 RPG), the Skyhawks rank 8th in defensive rebounding (34.2 RPG).

WHERE TO WATCH: Maine and College Park will tip-off at 7 p.m. at the Portland Expo. Tickets are available here. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+ and NBC Sports Boston.