Game Preview - Maine vs. Windy City - Feb. 14, 2024

Game details:              

Matchup: Maine Celtics (10-9) vs. Windy City Bulls (6-11)  

Location: Portland Expo; Portland, Maine   

Tipoff: 7:00 PM EST              

Streaming: ESPN+, NBC Sports Boston (tape delay) 

Hold off on your Valentine’s Day plans – the Maine Celtics and Windy City Bulls are facing off in a midweek matchup at the Portland Expo, the last game before an eight-day vacation for the All-Star break. 

The Celtics hosted the Bulls at the Expo exactly three weeks ago, a 101-96 victory for Windy City despite 24 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists from JD Davison. Tonight marks the second and final meeting of the season between the two squads. 

Breaking down the Bulls: 

As they were the last time the Celtics and Bulls matched up, Windy City is led by Adama Sanogo. The rookie big out of Connecticut is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, a physical two-way force on the interior that utilizes impressive touch to finish at the rim. Sanogo poured in 27 points on 10-16 shooting to go with 15 rebounds in the Jan. 24 contest. 

Bulls Two-Way player Henri Drell has picked it up a notch as of late. In the last three games, Drell is averaging 22.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, shooting 51.6% from the field and 41.2% from beyond the arc, all significant improvements on his season-long averages. The second-year forward hasn’t appeared in a game with Chicago yet, but if he does so, Drell will become only the second Estonian native to see the floor in an NBA game. 

With former Celtic Chris Clemons being waived off the roster a few weeks ago, Quenton Jackson has fully settled in as the secondary ball-handler for Windy City, putting up 18.4 points and a team-high 5.7 assists per game. Jackson finishes efficiently for a shooter with relatively high volume, sitting at 50.7% from the field – a top-25 mark in the league among players attempting at least 13 shots per game. 

The Bulls are legitimately 25% of the way to rostering last year’s Maine Celtics squad. Among Windy City’s 12-man roster, three players donned Celtic green in 2022-23: Scottie Lindsey, Marvin Smith Jr., and Jacob Young. Smith and Lindsey both played at the Expo a few weeks back, while Young will be making his first appearance at the Expo as a visitor. 

Keys to the game: 

Welcome to Maine, Scotty Hopson and Joe Wieskamp: The Celtics made a series of roster moves in recent days that resulted in the additions of G League veterans Scotty Hopson and Joe Wieskamp. Hopson supplants Tony Snell as the team’s “vet” with a decade of pro experience under his belt, while Wieskamp comes in from the Texas Legends, having made NBA appearances with San Antonio and Toronto in his first two seasons. 

End it on a high note: It would be huge for the Celtics to roll into All-Star break coming off a win at 11-9, opposed to falling back to .500 with a loss at 10-10. Maine can use every win they can get amid logjam in the Eastern Conference. Never too early to be thinking playoffs.