Game Preview - Maine vs. College Park - Dec. 15, 2023
By Maine Celtics Staff /December 15, 2023
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Game details:
Matchup: Maine Celtics (7-5) vs. College Park Skyhawks (8-4)
Location: Portland Expo; Portland, Maine
Tip-off: 6:30 PM EST
Streaming: Tubi, NBC Sports Boston (tape delay)
It all comes down to this; a weekend back-to-back at the Expo against the College Park Skyhawks. With the Showcase Cup rapidly approaching, the Maine Celtics have these two games to try and secure themselves a bid in next week’s tournament down in Orlando. A pair of wins, particularly by a sizable margin, would go a long way in securing Maine’s tournament spot via record, or giving them a leg up in tiebreaker scenarios with an improved point differential.
Luckily for Maine, two of College Park’s three Two-Way players are not with the team, while the Celtics are armed with the newly acquired Two-Way guard Drew Peterson. Let’s take a look at what we’re dealing with in the Skyhawks.
Breaking down the Skyhawks:
While Trent Forrest and Seth Lundy are up with the Atlanta Hawks, Two-Way forward Miles Norris will be in Portland this weekend. The UC Santa Barbara product has played in all 12 of College Park’s games so far, averaging 8.1 points and 6.3 rebounds in 25.2 minutes per game. Lundy has appeared in 11 games with the Skyhawks, while Forrest has yet to play in a G League game this season, making five appearances with Atlanta and averaging 8.6 minutes per game.
Instead of College Park’s offense running through its Two-Way players, the Skyhawks have a host of experienced G Leaguers stuffing the stat sheet. Chris Silva, Keaton Wallace, and Tyson Etienne are three of the team’s four leading scorers and its top-three assist-getters. The veteran Silva, a grizzled G League veteran with 70 games worth of experience at the NBA level, nearly averages a double-double at 16.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 blocks.
Keaton Wallace – the older brother of Oklahoma City Thunder guard and 10th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Cason Wallace – is the primary initiator and playmaking threat. Averaging 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists, the UTSA alum is a willing distributor that keeps defenses honest by shooting at a 46.6% clip from the field and 33.3% from distance on solid volume.
Etienne, more of a secondary playmaker that stretches the floor by shooting 38.1% of his 5.3 3-pointeres per game, averages 12.6 points and 3.9 assists per game. The Wichita State Shocker was the 2021 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and since entering the G League, has been a potent scoring threat on spot-up attempts and attacking closeouts. Etienne scores 1.098 Points Per Possession in Spot-Up play types per Synergy Sports.
Expo-goers are getting a visit from a former Celtics fan favorite this weekend. Skyhawks center Reggie Kissoonlal II is in the house and should be the backup center for both games. Kissoonlal was traded to College Park over the offseason after playing for the Boston Celtics in the 2023 Summer League, and the second-year Marian University product is posting 7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, shooting 34.6% from downtown. The 7-footer offers a different matchup than Silva and keeps defenses on their toes with floor-spacing and shot-blocking ability.
College Park boasts the #14 offense and #3 defense, also landing in the top-5 in assist percentage and top-10 in rebounding percentage. Conversely, they’re dead last in pace and 29th in points in the paint. The Skyhawks slow the game down to a halt, play physical defense and crash the glass. Maine will need to speed them up and force them to make threes to stay close.
Three keys to the game:
Run Forrest, run: Even though Maine isn’t a fast-paced team itself, it’s still quite a bit faster than College Park. If the Celtics can generate some extra transition opportunities and bury threes at an efficient clip, it’ll force the Skyhawks to adjust its play style to keep up. This would’ve been a great spot for a Trent Forrest pun had he traveled to Maine with the Skyhawks.
Point differential is king: Like we saw in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament last month, “running up the score” to secure a high point differential is beneficial. The Celtics shouldn’t be afraid to pour it on if given the opportunity and make it as difficult as possible for teams around the league to win a tiebreaker – if the Celtics hold up their end of the bargain and win enough games to qualify, that is.