Memphis beats Maine 115-107, snaps Celtics winning streak

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. - The Maine Celtics fell at the hands of the Memphis Hustle 115-107 on Sunday. The loss snapped an eight game winning streak for the Celtics, which had tied the previous franchise record set in 2014-15.

JD Davison led Maine with 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. The all-time franchise leader in points, assists, and steals continued to add to his tally, reaching 1,000 career assists in Sunday's loss. Six Celtics scored in double figures. Hason Ward and Tristan Enaruna each recorded a double-double off the bench with Ward posting 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks and Enaruna finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Kameron Warrens and Jay Scrubb each added 14 points and Anton Watson finished with 13.

As a team, Maine shot 40-91 (44%) from the floor and just 6-36 (16.7%) from beyond the arc. The Celtics turned the ball over 22 times to account for 37 Memphis points off turnovers. Maine was without Two-Way Player Drew Peterson, who missed Sunday's game with an ankle injury.

Memphis also had six players finish with double-digit scoring, led by 25 points and 6 rebounds from Cameron Spencer. DJ Steward packed the stat sheet with 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. Memphis finished the game shooting 38-87 (43.7%) from the field, including a blistering 18-46 (39%) from three.

Maine struggled to get going in the first quarter and multiple turnovers on offense led to points for the Hustle. Cam Spencer accounted for 10 of the first 19 points for Memphis and scored 12 overall in the quarter. Spencer buried a triple with 4:06 to go in the first quarter to give the Hustle a 19-9 lead. The Celtics turned the ball over seven times which resulted in 16 points for Memphis, who led Maine 30-19 through one.

The Hustle continued to build on their lead to start the second quarter. Malachi Smith converted on a transition layup to grow the Memphis lead to 16. After trailing by as many as 17, Anton Watson connected on a three to cap off a 9-2 Celtics run and pull back within 10, 44-34 with 6:53 to play in the first half. The Hustle focused their defense on Maine's playmaker in JD Davison, and held the Two-Way Player to zero field goal attempts until Davison scored as he was fouled at the 3:25 mark in the second quarter. Tristan Enaruna later scored on a short hook shot to make it a four-point game with just over two minutes to go. Led by five straight points from Armando Bacot, Memphis finished the quarter strong and led the Celtics 63-54 at the half. Anton Watson scored 10 of his 12 first half points to lead Maine. The Celtics shot just 2-of-15 from three (13.3%) in the first half and turned the ball over 14 times.

Miles Norris buried his second three of the game to extend the Hustle's lead back up to 13 a minute into the start of the second half. Steward followed up with a three of his own to build the Memphis advantage up to 16 at the 9:52 mark of the third quarter. At that point in the game, Memphis was shooting 12-24 (50%) from beyond the arc. Davison led Maine's answer, accounting for seven of nine consecutive Celtics points to pull back within seven. Maine wouldn't stop there as turnovers and second chance points would characterize a 23-5 Celtics run. A layup by Kameron Warrens with 4:52 to play in the third quarter gave Maine a 81-79 lead, their first lead of the second half. Smith and Johnson hit back to back triples for the Hustle to respond with a 10-0 run and lead 89-81 with just over two minutes left in the quarter. After being held in check during the first half, Davison scored 14 third quarter points as the Celtics trailed 94-86 to begin the fourth.

Maine and Memphis exchanged buckets for the first half of the final quarter as the Celtics struggled to cut back into the Hustle's lead. Maozinha Pereira's dunk with 5:31 to play just beat the shot clock to put Memphis in front by 11. Davison drove and scored with three minutes remaining in the game to pull Maine within nine. With 2:37 left, Davison found Jay Scrubb from beyond the arc. That assist was the seventh of the game for Davison, and the 1,000th assist in his illustrious career as a Maine Celtic. Both teams scored just 21 points in the final quarter as Maine couldn't overcome the Hustle and fell 115-107.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: JD Davison was the Player of the Game after leading Maine with 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Davison also had three steals on defense.

THE ROAD AHEAD: Maine continues their nine-game road trip in Motor City when they take on the Cruise on February 25 at 7:00 p.m. The game will broadcast live here.