FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Nothing was going to console the Maine Red Claws after a 104-103 overtime loss to the defending champion Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Tuesday night.
Not even knowing they’ll be home with the season on the line.
Red Claws in Playoffs
First round, best-of-three
GAME 1: Mad Ants 104, Red Claws 103 (OT), Mad Ants lead series 1-0
GAME 2: Fort Wayne at Red Claws, 4 p.m. Saturday (ESPN News)
GAME 3: Fort Wayne at Red Claws, 4:30 p.m. Sunday (ESPN News), if necessary
“We’re feeling comfortable going home, but right now we’re not thinking about that home-court advantage,” said guard Davion Berry, whose Red Claws lost the opener of the D-League best-of-three Eastern Conference semifinals.
“We’re just thinking about how much this one hurts. When we get back to Maine, we’ll regroup. But right now this is a tough loss for us.”
It was tough because Maine (35-15 in the regular season), the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, had so many chances to defeat Fort Wayne (28-22) – the last team to clinch a playoff berth.
The Red Claws let a 14-point third-quarter lead slip away. With the score 100-100 and 1.3 seconds left in regulation, they failed to inbound the ball and turned it over. In overtime they missed their first three shots and were 1 of 6.
And after Matt Bouldin of Fort Wayne converted a baseline drive with 9.6 seconds left, the Red Claws still had a chance to win. But Romero Osby, who had a team-best 24 points, was locked down defensively on his drive by Ramon Harris and had his desperation shot at the buzzer blocked off the glass by C.J. Fair.
“Just too many mental errors down the stretch,” Berry said.
Maine, which came into the playoffs having won 9 of 11, got 21 points and 17 rebounds from Omari Johnson. James Young had 17 points and eight rebounds. Berry and Chris Babb scored 15 points apiece.
Fort Wayne, which was undefeated in the playoffs last year, has won seven of its last nine. Jordan Crawford had 28 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and six steals. Fair added 28 points and has averaged 27 over the last three games.
“Parts of our game plan were on point and parts of our game plan have to be adjusted,” Maine Coach Scott Morrison said. “That’s on us as a coaching staff to get on that film and discuss what we can do a little bit better. From a player’s point of view, I think they should have the confidence that we have the ability to win two games in a row. But at the same time, on this team, three or four minutes of deviating from your game plan and your maximum effort can cost you. So their job is to get mentally and physically ready while we make the adjustments.”
The Red Claws will try to make better use of their size advantage and try to cut down on turnovers. Fort Wayne had 13 steals; Maine had four. Maine turned the ball over 17 times; Fort Wayne did it nine times.
“I just felt like our defense was the key,” Mad Ants Coach Conner Henry said.
The Mad Ants, who lost 3 of 4 to the Red Claws in the regular season, were dealt a major blow Monday when their captain, Chris Porter, 36, had his contract terminated by the D-League for violation of the drug policies.
“C.P. is with us. He’s a Hall of Fame Ant. We love him. We support him. He was in the building in spirit tonight,” Henry said. “I’m sure he was watching. All those gritty plays … those are what we’ve seen for years from C.P. Whatever we can do for C.P. as an organization, we will as an organization.”
In a first half that saw 15 lead changes, a layup by Johnson with 4:00 remaining in the first quarter gave Maine a 22-15 lead. Led by its bench players, Fort Wayne fought back for a 35-34 lead after a Marcus Simmons 3-pointer, a Xavier Thames drive and a Fair free throw.
After Osby backed down Fair for a 44-38 Maine lead with 5:58 remaining in the half, a Harris 3-pointer put the Mad Ants back up 49-47 with 3:32 left.
The Red Claws opened the third quarter with an 11-2 run, culminating with a Young shot from the corner for a 71-57 lead. The Mad Ants got a bevy of steals – two by Crawford and one apiece by Harris and Thames – and pulled within 76-71 on a Crawford 3-pointer with 3:30 left in the third quarter.
Fair’s hook off the glass put Fort Wayne up 94-93 with 4:06 left in the fourth and it remained close the rest of the way.
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