PORTLAND — If it wasn’t Erie forward Ivan Johnson on a staggering scoring pace, it was the BayHawks’ perimeter shooting that did it.

Both added up to a 123-109 loss for the Maine Red Claws on Friday night at the Portland Expo in the team’s return from the NBA D-League Showcase. The loss dropped their record to 10-13.

Johnson, a 6-foot-8 power forward from Division II Cal-State San Bernardino, put up a career-high 46 points — 30 of them in the first half.

Erie hit 9 of 10 3-pointers in the second half to pull away.

“We just didn’t get any stops,” said Maine Coach Austin Ainge. “Our defense is really bad. We’ve let way too many big guys set career highs against us. It’s a team thing.”

Erie improved to 15-7.

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Maine got its first NBA player this season from the affiliate Boston Celtics earlier in the day when Avery Bradley, a first-round draft pick, was sent to Portland.

He made his debut at 5:52 of the first quarter.

Bradley missed two jumpers before connecting on a layup with just seconds left in the quarter to give Maine a 27-24 lead. He was 2 for 7 in the first half, playing 12 minutes, 54 seconds — by far his longest action of the season.

By game’s end he had scored 11 points with six assists and 5 of 5 free throws.

“I haven’t played a full game since college,” said Bradley, a product of Texas. “I need to find my rhythm, period. Get my game back. My shot. My defense. I want to make sure I’m ready for when I go back.”

Maine shot well, hitting 46.5 percent from the floor and making 14 of 26 3-pointers.

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Mario West and Jamar Smith were Maine’s scoring leaders with 19 points apiece.

Asked what needs to turn around on defense, West said he and his teammates will learn today.

“We’ll watch tape. The tape never lies,” said West.

Maine traded leads with the BayHawks 11 times before trailing 53-50 at halftime.

The Claws’ biggest problem to that point was Johnson as a force from inside and outside the paint.

Erie used a 17-10 run to cruise to a 10-point lead and stretched it to 14 to end the third quarter, leading 86-72.

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In the fourth quarter, Maine cut Erie’s lead to as few as seven points but was never able to get closer.

“I thought our energy was fine. It was our execution that was very poor,” said Ainge.

“They tricked us. They went around us. We weren’t playing smart.”

Maine will head out on a four-game trip and won’t return home until Jan. 28. 

NOTES: The Sioux Falls Skyforce fired Tony Fritz on Friday and named assistant Duane Ticknor interim head coach. The team is just 2-16 overall, the worst 18-game stretch in more than two decades of pro basketball in the city.

 

Staff Writer Jenn Menendez can be contacted at 791-6426 or at:

jmenendez@pressherald.com

 


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