Celtics Sweep OKC To Move To 2-0

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Maine Celtics played solid defense in the first half and got clutch scoring down the stretch to take down the Oklahoma City Blue Friday night, 114-103. Maine heads home for Sunday’s New Year’s Eve matinee with a pair of big road wins.

Maine (2-0) was led by Boston Celtics assignee Jordan Walsh, who finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. Drew Peterson hit crucial threes down the stretch to finish with 18 points, while fellow Two-Way Player JD Davison added 17 points, 10 assists, and 5 steals. DJ Steward paced the bench scoring with 17 points of his own, while Rob Edwards added 10 points off the bench.

Oklahoma City (0-2) was led by Ousmane Dieng with 25 points. Jahmi’us Ramsey added 23 points off the bench, while KJ Williams recorded a 15 point-15 rebound double-double.

The Blue started the game off with 5 quick points. Peterson answered with a triple of his own. Schakel buried a three to give Maine an early 8-7 lead. Keyontae Johnson’s three-point play put Oklahoma City up 5. Jahmi’us Ramsey threw down a windmill dunk to give the Blue a 21-12 advantage, but Tony Snell’s four-point play stopped the OKC run. Steward scored back-to-back buckets, and Davison’s steal and jam helped Maine keep pace. Still, Ousmane Dieng’s 10 points carried the Blue and Oklahoma City held a 31-28 lead after one quarter of play.

In the 2^nd, Maine went on an 8-0 run to open the period. Walsh’s three-point play gave Maine a 32-31 lead. Davison found Peterson for a triple. The run extended to 13-2 to open the 2^nd. Rob Edwards’ steal and slam put the Celtics up 15. Kylor Kelley hit an and-one to make it 56-38. But the Blue would go on a run of their own, scoring 7 straight late in the period, but when the dust settled Maine out-scored the Blue 33-19 in the 2^nd to take a 61-50 halftime lead. Maine shot 47.8% (22-46) from the floor. Neither team shot well from deep in the first half – Maine went 5-22; Oklahoma City shot 5-20.

The second half opened up with back-and-forth scoring. Walsh’s driving reverse lay-up extended the Maine lead to 68-56. Davison then went on a run, scoring 10 straight points for the Celtics, capped by a driving bucket plus the foul. Miller Kopp’s corner three would cut the OKC deficit to 4, but Steward followed that up with a runner to stop the run. The Celtics would take an 86-80 lead into the 4^th quarter.

In the 4^th, both teams traded buckets, with Maine holding on to a 6-point lead. Walsh hit a difficult three late in the shot clock to give the Celtics a 94-85 lead. Steward’s driving bucket plus the foul put Maine up 99-87. The Blue would respond – K.J. Williams’ lay-up cut it to 7 points. Peterson and Davison buried back-to-back threes to stop the run and push the lead back to 12 at 105-93. Peterson drained yet another three to put the game away for good.

Maine finished the game shooting 44.7% (42-94) from the floor, 26.7% (12-45) from three-point range, and 13-18 from the free throw line. Oklahoma City shot 41.1% (37-90) from the field, 27.8% (10-36) from downtown, and 11-17 from the charity stripe.

Maine faces Grand Rapids on Sunday, Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. at the Portland Expo.