Game Preview - Maine at Capital City - Dec. 3, 2023
By Maine Celtics Staff /December 3, 2023
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Game details:
Matchup: Maine Celtics (4-4) at Capital City Go-Go (5-2)
Location: Entertainment and Sports Arena; Washington, D.C.
Tip-off: 3:00 PM EST
Streaming: NBAGLeague.com
The Maine Celtics head to the nation’s capital for a Sunday matinee with the Capital City Go-Go to round out a five-game road swing.
The Go-Go come into this one winners of back-to-back games over Raptors 905, which earned its first win of the season over Maine two days ago; Capital City looks to build its streak to three wins, while Maine looks to avoid a three-game skid to finish off this road trip.
Breaking down the Go-Go:
Back on Nov. 10, Capital City claimed a 137-127 win over the Celtics in the season-opener. Jules Bernard out up 30 points and 10 rebounds while Hamidou Diallo tallied 28 and 10, powering the Go-Go to a 72-point second half en route to victory. Bernard, the team’s leading scorer at 22.4 points per game, missed the last two games with injury – if he’s sidelined again, that’s one less offensive weapon for the Celtics to deal with. Capital City’s third-ranked offense is powered by a league-leading 18.3 free throw attempts per game, of which Bernard leads the charge at 4.8 attempts per contest.
At time of publish, the Go-Go are slated to be without Two-Way players Jared Butler and Eugene Omoruyi – with no NBA games scheduled for today, don’t be surprised to see Washington send its Two-Ways down for today’s game. Regardless, the Washington Wizards still sent reinforcement in assignment player Patrick Baldwin Jr. The 28th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft played his rookie year with the Warriors, arriving in Washington as part of the Chris Paul-to-Golden State trade last summer. Baldwin has played five games with the Go-Go this season and averages 12.6 points and 7 rebounds.
Capital City currently sits in second place in the East Showcase pod, four spots above Maine. A win over a top team in the standings would be huge for the Celtics, not just for momentum but for positioning in the standings – going 1-1 against the Go-Go is critical for potential tiebreaker scenarios. With just over two weeks remaining before the Showcase Cup kicks off on Dec. 19 in Orlando, the Celtics must start making up ground soon to be in contention for the $100,000 winner-take-all prize.
Three keys to the game:
Keep the fouling at a minimum: This theme has resurfaced a few times already this season, but there’s a direct correlation between Maine’s foul total and the result of the game. The Celtics committed 31 fouls against the 905 last time out and racked up 25 personals in the first matchup with the Go-Go; keeping the league’s best free throw shooting team off the line is imperative.
Bring the energy to an early tip-off: Back-to-back early tip offs for Maine, which played an 11:00 AM game two days ago before the 3:00 PM contest today. It can be understandably tough to “bring it” for an afternoon game, having to wake up and get into a pre-game routine much earlier than usual. Showing intensity from the jump could go a long way.
End the cold spell: Over the last two games – both losses – the Celtics are shooting a mere 25.4% from 3-point land compared to their season-long mark of 34.4%, good for 12th in the league. Not long ago, Maine led the G League in 3-point makes per game and percentage as a team. Let’s hope the shots start to fall again today.