Maine Prepares for Capital City in First Round of Playoffs

PORTLAND, Maine. - The quest to return to the NBA G League Finals begins on Tuesday when the Maine Celtics host the Capital City Go-Go in the first round at the Portland Expo.

Maine (21-13) earned the three seed in the Eastern Conference and will battle the sixth seeded Go-Go (20-14) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. This will be the fourth meeting between the Go-Go and Celtics this season, with Maine going 2-1 against the Go-Go in those games.

The Celtics are on a mission to build off last season's playoff success, which saw Maine make a deep playoff push all the way to the franchise's first NBA G League Finals appearance. Maine lost to the Thunder 2-1 in a best of three series. Four players from last year's squad, JD Davison, Drew Peterson, Jordan Schakel, and James Banks III are all determined to lead Maine to its first G League championship. Maine has clinched a spot in the postseason for three consecutive seasons.

"We've got to get further than we did last year and the only thing further than that is a championship," Banks said in a previous interview this season.

It all starts with Maine's first round matchup with the Go-Go. Maine lost their regular season finale to the Westchester Knicks 122-113 on March 26. Maine has won 7 of their last 10 games and concluded the Tip-Off Tournament and Regular Season with a combined record of 29-21. Capital City also concluded their Regular Season with losses against Westchester, losing back-to-back games against the Knicks. The Go-Go are 5-5 in their last 10 games.

Two-Way Player JD Davison will look to continue his historic season in the playoffs. Davison is currently fourth in the NBA G League in points per game (25.1) and seventh in assists per game (7.5). Fellow Two-Way Player Drew Peterson is packing the stat sheet, averaging 20.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game while shooting 40.4% from three.

Capital City's Two-Way Players are Jaylen Martin, JT Thor, and Tristan Vukcevic. Martin has played just nine Regular Season games with the Go-Go and Thor and Vukcevic played in eight. 12 Capital City players have averaged 10 points or more throughout the Regular Season. Capital City leads the NBA G League in team field goal percentage (48.5%) and first in three-point percentage (38.7%). The Go-Go are also fourth in assists during the Regular Season, averaging over 27 assists per game. Capital City also ranks among the G League's best in advanced metrics, ranking second in Net Rating (first in the East). Maine is fourth in defensive rating and seventh in total rebounding.

Maine will host Capital City at the Portland Expo on Tuesday, April 1 at 8 p.m. Playoff tickets are available here. The game will broadcast live on ESPNU.