Maine wraps up road trip with two games in Greensboro

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Maine Celtics will wrap up their long road trip with a pair of key games against the Greensboro Swarm this weekend. Both teams hold an 18-11 record, and each sit just a half game back of first place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Maine continues to be one of the hottest teams in the NBA G League, having won 12 of its last 14 games. Maine is 5-2 during their current road trip after handily beating the Windy City Bulls 129-100 on Wednesday. Maine is 11-2 this season when they score 120 points or more.

The Celtics grabbed 24 offensive rebounds to rack up 29 second chance points compared to just 14 second chance points for the Bulls. Maine's bench outscored Windy City's 71-19, led by 26 points from Jay Scrubb. Drew Peterson packed the stat sheet with 19 points, five rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Fellow Two-Way players JD Davison and Miles Norris poured in 16- and 14-point efforts respectively. Hason Ward recorded a double-double off the bench with 10 points and 13 rebounds. 

Maine and Greensboro have met twice this season, with both games coming during Tip-Off Tournament play at the Portland Expo in December. Maine is 1-1 against the Swarm. Both games this weekend are sure to have key implications in the Eastern Conference standings. Entering Friday night's matchup, Maine is second in the East, just a half game in front of fourth placed Greensboro. While Maine has won eight of their last 10 games, the Swarm have won seven out of their last 10.

On Thursday night, Greensboro played their first of three games in four days. The Swarm defeated the Austin Spurs 115-108 behind 32 points from Keyontae Johnson and 23 points by KJ Simpson.

Fresh off being named the Player of the Week and Player of the Month for February, JD Davison is fourth in the NBA G League in scoring (24.9 PPG) and eighth in assists (7.5 APG) during the Regular Season.

Greensboro's Two-Way players are Damion Baugh, Wendell Moore Jr., and K.J. Simpson. Simpson is averaging 21.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 11 appearances during the Regular Season. Jaylen Sims and Keyontae Johnson can both score in bunches, averaging 18.7 PPG and 17.8 PPG respectively.

Friday and Sunday's matchups will highlight two of the top defensive teams in the league. Greensboro is 3rd in defensive rating during the Regular Season and Maine is 4th. Maine will look to continue to find second chance points through offensive rebounds. The Celtics rank fifth in the G League in offensive rebounds per game at 13.6 RPG. Since the start of the Regular Season, the Celtics rank 10th in total rebounding. The Swarm have done damage this season at the free throw line. Greensboro is second in the NBA G League in free throws attempted per game (15.8) and first in free throws made per game (12.3). They're also second in team free throw percentage (77.8%).

WHERE TO WATCH: Maine's road trip continues when the Celtics play the first of two important games against the Greensboro Swarm on Friday at 7 p.m. The game will broadcast live here. Maine returns to the Portland Expo on March 20th against the Osceola Magic.