Omari Johnson gathered in the pass from Tim Frazier and hesitated only a moment to lock his eyes on the orange rim.
He lifted the basketball in front of his face and over his head, snapping his right wrist to impart backspin during flight and, as a bonus, to provide a satisfying thwack as the leather ball briefly entangled itself in the white twine.
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WHO: Maine Red Claws at Westchester Knicks
WHEN: 1 p.m. Friday
It was the fifth 3-pointer of the game for Johnson and 19th for the Maine Red Claws on Wednesday afternoon, setting a franchise record in a 122-106 D-League victory over the Texas Legends before a crowd of 2,392 at the Portland Expo.
“I wasn’t thinking about (the record) when I shot it,” said Johnson, who learned from a fan that the Claws had tied their team 3-pointer mark of 18 early in the fourth quarter. “I forgot as soon as they said it, to be honest. We had a game to attend to.”
Just under three minutes remained in the contest when Johnson connected from 26 feet. Any thoughts of a Texas comeback disappeared in a pair of alley-oop dunks by Asauhn Dixon-Tatum (from Johnson, faking a 3-point shot) and James Young (from Frazier, one of his season-high 14 assists).
The Red Claws (13-3) improved their home record to 8-1 three days after losing by a point to Canton at the Expo. They travel to New York for a Friday matinee against Westchester before returning to Portland Saturday night against Delaware.
“We can’t win every close one,” Johnson said of Sunday’s loss. “We just have to focus on the next one.”
Wednesday’s opening minutes did nothing to foreshadow a record-setting performance. The Claws looked sloppy, turned the ball over, dribbled it off their feet and made careless passes that were easily intercepted.
The Legends (10-6) had not lost outside of Texas in seven road games (the one loss came at Austin) and they took it to the Red Claws, scoring the game’s first seven points and acting a lot like a brawny older brother.
“In the first half they definitely bullied us around,” said Red Claws Coach Scott Morrison. “They were tougher than us. In the second half I thought our guys dug in a little bit and protected the paint a little bit better.”
Maine’s saving grace was the 3. The Red Claws connected on seven in the first quarter and finished with a five-point lead. They added three more in the second and trailed 64-62 at halftime, then hit six more in the third to open a 12-point lead (94-82).
“Three is worth more than two,” said Morrison, who does have an economics degree from the University of Prince Edward Island.
Still, Morrison prefers open 2s to contested 3s.
“If they aren’t good looks, then we don’t want to take them,” he said. “We do emphasize trying to attack the paint to shrink the defense and create more space on the outside. Our roster is kind of built with more shooters than big guys, so we try to play to our strengths.”
Johnson and Young, a Celtics rookie, led the long-range barrage with five apiece. Young finished with 25 points and Johnson added 17. Five other Red Claws got into the 3-point act. Andre Stringer hit three and had 13 points. Chris Babb and Jermaine Taylor each had two and finished with 14 and 15 points, respectively. Christian Watford (10 points) had one and even big Ralph Sampson III joined in the fun, draining his third 3-pointer of the season from the right corner early in the fourth to make it 100-84.
“On this team, everybody shoots the ball pretty well,” Sampson said. “We don’t depend on one person to go off for 40 points a night.”
Sampson and Dixon-Tatum provided a much-needed inside presence for the Claws to counteract the tough Texas trio of Damion James (21 points, 10 rebounds), Eric Griffin (22 points, two blocks) and Renaldo Balkman (20 points, 13 rebounds).
“I think Ralph and (Dixon-Tatum) had great games,” Morrison said. “I thought that was one of the key adjustments that we made (at intermission) was keeping one of those guys on the floor. They were a threat to roll down to the rim (from a high pick) and defensively, they helped us clean the glass a little better.”
It was a Young 3-pointer early in the third quarter that put the Red Claws ahead for good at 72-69, the second of three straight he hit in less than a minute.
The Claws closed the quarter with a 19-9 run and never let the margin drop below double digits in the fourth, which included three alley-oop flushes to feed the highlight reel.
“We’re a team that loves to share the ball and we shoot the 3-pointer well,” Frazier said. “When everybody’s making them, we’re a hard team to beat.”
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