OREM, Utah — The Maine Red Claws were a long way from home, but their odds of making the playoffs were much, much longer.

And now those odds no longer exist.

Maine was officially eliminated from the NBA Development League playoff race with a 112-77 loss to the Utah Flash on Tuesday night.

The Red Claws (16-29), who narrowly missed the postseason last year, would have needed to hurdle six other teams in the final two weeks of the season to qualify for the playoffs.

It was as unlikely a feat as a Maine victory away from the Portland Expo recently. The Red Claws lost for the 14th time in 15 road games dating back to Dec. 23. Their lone victory during that stretch came Jan. 24 at Texas.

Tuesday, the Red Claws hung tough for a half with the Flash (26-18), who secured a playoff berth with the victory.

Maine trailed 48-43 at halftime, despite Vernon Goodridge and Bamba Fall each going to the bench with three fouls.

But the Red Claws couldn’t stop the Flash after the break, and the game turned into a rout a few minutes into the fourth quarter.

Maine was outscored 33-10 in the final period and 64-34 in the second half.

“We just couldn’t make a basket,” Maine Coach Austin Ainge said.

“When you turn the ball over and can’t make a basket, it leads to easy buckets for them. We didn’t play with any focus or purpose tonight.”

Maine’s frustrations boiled over in the final minute when Craig Winder committed a flagrant foul on Brian Hamilton on a breakaway attempt. The two exchanged words and each was given a technical foul.

“(Winder) just fouled him on the layup,” Ainge said.

“He hit him on the arms and the kid overreacted. It was Hamilton who lost his cool, not my guy.”

Utah opened the fourth quarter with a decisive 17-4 run during which Maine came up empty on seven consecutive possessions.

Utah center Brandon Costner hit back-to-back three-pointers to put Maine in a 70-51 hole midway through the third quarter and scored 12 of his game-high 27 points in the period.

It was Costner’s 12th game of 20 or more points this season, and his sixth in nine games.

Winder scored 17 points and Antonio Anderson added 13 points for Maine. DeShawn Sims (12 points) and Jamar Smith (10) also finished in double figures.

Mario West found driving traffic doesn’t exist in Utah, as the forward drove the lane repeatedly with little resistance.

West scored all eight of his points in the lane to help keep Maine close in the first half.

The Red Claws finished with 44 points in the paint — 30 in the first half as they shot 49 percent from the field before halftime. Maine finished at 36 percent for the game.

 

Copy the Story Link