Celtics Come Up Short to Swarm in OT

PORTLAND, Maine. - The Maine Celtics lost a heartbreaker 109-108 in overtime to the Greensboro Swarm on Sunday afternoon.

A made three throw by Terrell Brown Jr. hit the overtime target score of 109 to hand the Celtics their seventh loss of the season. Greensboro improved to 9-3 while Maine falls to 5-7 after splitting the two-game series with the Swarm. While the Celtics beat Greensboro 116-93 on Saturday afternoon in dominating fashion, Sunday's game featured 17 total lead changes and was tied 15 times.

JD Davison led Maine with 27 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Jordan Walsh added 20 points and five rebounds and Baylor Scheierman finished with 16 points and five boards. Maine was 14-44 (31.8%) from distance and 41-86 (47.7%) overall from the floor.

Scheierman and Walsh were assigned to Maine for Sunday's showdown with the Swarm. This is the first time Walsh has been assigned to Maine this season. Celtics Two-Way Player Drew Peterson also returned to Maine after playing the most minutes of his NBA career for Boston in the last week. Peterson finished Sunday's game with nine points, four rebounds, and four assists.

Greensboro played their second game against Maine without any of their Two-Way Players and had eight total players available for Sunday's game. The Swarm were led by a game-high 28 points from Jaylen Sims, who connected on 7-9 shots from beyond the arc. Brown Jr. posted 23 points, nine assists, and five rebounds and Reggie Perry added 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Both teams went back and forth in the opening quarter despite Maine struggling to shoot from three. The Celtics were just 2-10 from deep in the opening quarter while the Swarm shot 53% from the floor, including 5-6 trips to the free throw line to hold a narrow 27-25 lead after one.

The Swarm dominated the second quarter, starting on a 13-2 run as Greensboro outscored the Celtics 36-24 in the frame. Maine trailed by as many as 17, but saw a glimmer of hope in the final seconds when Walsh stole the ball from the Swarm and scored an and-1 basket in transition to pull Maine within 14 entering the break. Four Swarm players scored in double figures in the first half, led by 14 points and seven assists by Brown Jr.

Maine started all their Boston affiliated players to start the second half, with three Two-Way Players and two assignment players taking the floor together. The move produced a 10-2 Celtics run to begin the third quarter. Davison scored 10 points in the quarter, including a basket with four minutes to play to tie the game at 72. Walsh added eight as Maine won the quarter, 27-16, but the Swarm held a narrow 79-76 advantage to start the fourth.

The fourth quarter would bring the crowd at the Portland Expo to their feet. A dunk by Jordan Walsh with 1:45 received an exclamation from the crowd as the Celtics tied the game again at 98 apiece. Moments later, Anton Watson slammed home a dunk to give Maine their first leads since early in the second quarter. After Greensboro tied it at 100, it was Maine's turn with 31 seconds to play. Davison drove to the middle of the paint, stopped on a dime, and hit the fadeaway jumper to put Maine out in front 102-100 with 9.1 seconds to go. The Swarm answered quickly, as Keyontae Johnson slashed through the paint and flushed it home bring the Swarm level with the Celtics. Davison's shot as time expired missed off the rim and the teams went to overtime.

Seeking the overtime target score of 109, the Swarm jumped out to a three-point lead after Perry scored deep in the paint plus the foul. Davison continued to have all the answers, hitting back to back 3-pointers to pull Maine within one of the golden score of 109. Greensboro didn't go away, tying the game at 108 on the next two possessions to set up a a next basket wins scenario. After the Celtics turned the ball over on their chance on offense, the Swarm were fouled on an attempted steal by Maine. Greensboro made their free throw to end the game, beating Maine 109-108 to split the two-game series.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: JD Davison was the player of the game after leading Maine with a team-high 27 points on 11-22 shooting. Davison scored six of those points in OT. The Two-Way guard also dished out seven assists, grabbed four rebounds, and recorded three steals.

THE ROAD AHEAD: Just two games remain in the NBA G League Tip-Off Tournament. First, Maine will hit the road to play Long Island for the third time this season on December 11. The Celtics will return home to the Portland Expo on December 15 to battle Raptors 905.