GAME PREVIEW: Maine Welcomes Wisconsin to the Expo

PORTLAND, Maine. - The Maine Celtics welcome the Wisconsin Herd to the Portland Expo for the first of two games on Thursday and Friday night.

Maine (2-1) is looking to win three consecutive games for the first time this season. The Celtics have won four of their last five games after Maine took down the Texas Legends 105-92 on New Years Eve. The Herd are 0-2 to start the regular season after finishing the Tip-Off Tournament with a 3-13 record. Maine is currently in 4th place in the Eastern Conference and Wisconsin is 16th (last).

The Celtics are 7-8 all-time against the Herd, but Wisconsin is 0-8 in back-to-back series this season.

Playing without Two-Way Players JD Davison and Drew Peterson, Boston Celtics assignee Baylor Scheierman led the way with 25 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. Maine's bench was also key once again, outscoring the Legends 52-11 behind 18 points from Jay Scrubb and 17 points by Ron Harper Jr. Scrubb was a key catalyst to Maine's defense with five steals and two blocked shots. Jordan Schakel added three steals on a day that saw the Celtics force 24 turnovers on defense.

Davison, one of the top scorers and passers in the G League is expected to return to the starting lineup for Maine on Thursday night. The third-year guard averaged 26.5 points and 8.3 assists per game during the Tip-Off Tournament. Davison enters the night with 1,954 points, as the all-time leading scorer looks to become the franchise's first 2,000 point scorer.

BLOCK PARTY: Thursday's game features two of the best shot blocking teams in the G League. Wisconsin currently ranks third in the league in blocks per game with 7.8, led by Ibou Badji, who currently ranks first with 3.6 blocks per game. Maine is second as a team with 8.1 blocks per game, led by Hason Ward's 2.8 blocks per contest.

HOME STRETCH: Maine will play back-to-back games against the Herd on Thursday and Friday. It's part of a long home stretch for the Celtics which will see Maine play home games in three of the next four nights, and 13 of their 16 games between December 31 and February 1 will be at the Expo.

MEMIC INJURY REPORT:

Maine Celtics: Drew Peterson (NWT), Don Carey Jr. (OUT) - Injury/Illness, Eric Gaines (OUT) - Injury/Illness, Ron Harper Jr. (OUT) - Injury/Illness, Dmytro Skapintsev (OUT) - Injury/Illness.

Wisconsin Herd: Justise Winslow (OUT) - Injury/Illness, Ade Murkey (OUT) - Injury/Illness, James Akinjo (OUT) - Injury/Illness, Dennis Smith Jr. (NWT), Ryan Rollins (NWT), Stanley Umude (NWT).

WHERE TO WATCH: Thursday night's game tips-off at 7:00 p.m. in Portland and will broadcast live on ESPN+ and on tape delay on NBC Sports Boston.