PORTLAND – Dave Leitao didn’t pull any punches when assessing his thoughts on his team’s second-half performance on Sunday afternoon.
“Any time you give up 72 second-half points, it’s just ridiculous and it’s never supposed to happen,” the first-year coach said after watching his Maine Red Claws drop a 118-109 decision to the Bakersfield Jam in front of 3,045 fans at the Portland Expo.
“That’s 144 in a game. I mean, you might as well be playing in an all-star game.”
The loss was the fourth in a row for the Red Claws (12-21) and represented their third straight at home. A collective lack of defense has been a source of concern during the stretch as Maine has surrendered nearly 118 points per game.
The Red Claws defensive issues came to light in the third quarter on Sunday. Maine led 54-46 at the half but Bakersfield (17-14) started to get hot and worked its way to within three points (61-58) before the period was five minutes old.
The Jam’s success was a direct result of attacking the basket to put up points. And when their drives weren’t successful they managed to draw regular fouls from the Red Claws. The result was a 12-0 run midway through the third that allowed the Jam to surge past Maine and into a 70-63 lead, an advantage they would never surrender.
“I think coming into the third quarter we had some mental lapses on defense and our energy was low,” said Red Claws guard Courtney Pigram, who scored 21 points. “It seemed like we couldn’t get any stops and they were just making a ton of shots at the same time.”
Bakersfield continued to assert itself offensively throughout the remainder of the period and took a 78-74 lead into the final quarter.
“Coach at halftime told everybody that we had to be a little more aggressive and attack the basket,” said Osiris Eldridge, who scored 17 of his game-high 30 points in the second half. “I just tried to do that in the second half.
“When you mix it up, you go inside a lot and then sort of sag off and then it opens up the outside. Then when they get up on you on the outside you go back to the basket. You have to feel it out and hit the spots on the court.”
Bakersfield’s success had the Red Claws completely off balance in their own end.
As expected, when they collapsed to defend the Jam’s drives they left the outside shot open. The Jam capitalized on that too, going 5 of 8 from 3-point distance in the fourth quarter.
Maine’s defensive deficiencies were masked in the opening half by the fact that the Jam shot only 31.8 percent from the field. The Red Claws were marginally better shooting 38.5 percent but managed to gain the upper hand.
The Red Claws led 28-22 after one and used a 12-4 run to start the second to stretch their lead to 40-26 in the first five minutes of the quarter.
The 14-point advantage represented the largest of the half but it didn’t last long. The Jam answered with two outbursts in a span of five minutes that got them back on even terms.
An eight- and nine-point run, separated by a 3-pointer by Pigram, tied the game at 43-43 with 2:25 left until the break.
The Red Claws surged back ahead before the end of the second quarter. An 11-3 closing kick, highlighted by Morris Almond’s 3-pointer with 30 seconds left, gave Maine a 54-46 lead heading toward the second half.
Craig Brackins added 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Red Claws.
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