AUGUSTA — It’s a work in progress in which the Maine Red Claws are engaged.
And judging solely by Monday’s 86-78 preseason loss to their D-League expansion brothers, the Springfield Armor, the building process needs a few more bricks and mortar.
Trailing for most of the first half, the Claws put on a plucky comeback that saw them knot the score early in the fourth quarter.
Maine faded down the stretch, however, then folded beneath a 9-0 Springfield run in the waning minutes.
Three Claws shooters hit double digits, with guard Darnell Lazare leading all scorers with 19 points.
Tony Bobbitt jumped off the bench to add 14 points, while Bill Walker, the first player supplied by the Boston Celtics, had 13.
But it wasn’t enough to erase the effects of a 19-4 Springfield run in the first half.
“We’re all just learning each other’s games right now,” said Walker, with ice bags holding down the swelling on both of his damaged knees. “We made mistakes on account of that.”
Maine scored the game’s first six points, with Walker hitting a free throw to record the first (albeit unofficial) points in franchise history.
They were quickly pinned back by Springfield, which cruised to a 29-17 first quarter lead, which they maintained at 43-35 by halftime.
“I think we tried hard,” said Lazare, who played his college ball at LSU. “Sometimes we might have overdone it. But the times we were executing, we got the results.
The fact that the Red Claws were running a little ragged after a hard week of practice didn’t help their cause, either.
“Our guys were pretty beat up,” said Claws coach Austin Ainge. We’ve had a hard training camp. I could tell some guys were dragging a little. Especially some of my veterans. They can’t go all night like some of these younger guys and have great shooting nights.”
Maine chipped away at the deficit, and was tied 62-62 after Anthony Terrell drained a jump shot with 10:05 to play.
However, Maine couldn’t scale the hump.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” said Ainge. “It’s a long season. We’ve got some good players, and we’ll figure out how to play the game, soon.”
AIR BALLS: Springfield is coached by Dee Brown, who received warm applause from the crowd of 3,147 which showed its appreciation of his Boston Celtic exploits. “That was good,” said Brown, who spent nine seasons in Green and White. “Once a Celtic, always a Celtic. It was good to come all the way up here in Augusta and hear the warm reception I got.””¦The contest is believed to be the first professional team event staged in Maine’s capital city in nearly three decades. The Celtics once played an exhibition game here”¦
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.
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