Tacko Fall, a 7-foot-5 rookie, will likely be seeing a lot of playing time this season for the Maine Red Claws after signing a two-way contract with the Boston Celtics that limits him to a maximum of 45 days in the NBA. Ron Schwane/Associated Press
CLEVELAND — The Boston Celtics made their ownership of the Maine Red Claws official with a press conference in Portland on Tuesday, and naturally talk of the biggest Celtic of them all, Tacko Fall, filled the room.
Later that evening, with the Celtics playing in Cleveland, this walking ticket draw acknowledged that he’s done a little Portland scouting work.
“Great city, great food – cold, I’ve heard that,” he said before the preseason game against the Cavaliers. “But I’ve heard about the food and pretty good people. Look forward to going there and getting settled.”
Fall readily agrees that there will be quite a few lobster rolls in his future, and that he does indeed need playing time in the G League. On Sunday, the Celtics announced that Fall has been given a two-way contract, allowing him to spend up to 45 days in the NBA and the rest of season with the G League Red Claws.
“I definitely need to keep playing. Sitting on the back of the bench and not getting game experience won’t do me any favors,” he said. “We all agreed that would be the best for my career – keep getting the reps in and keep getting better.
“You can work as much as you want, but you have to get game reps. That’s the way to keep improving on your game. This would be a good way for me to do that.”
And at the moment, everyone wins – the Red Claws ticket office, ticket offices across the G League, for that matter, as well as the actual team. Imagine those lobs from Tremont Waters to his 7-foot-5 target, who feels what everyone has seen doesn’t even scratch the surface.
“Absolutely. I feel I can do a lot more than what I’ve shown so far,” said Fall. “Just getting the opportunity to get more comfortable out there. I really feel like the sky’s the limit, and I can get better.”
EDWARDS PUTS ON A SHOW
Carsen Edwards, according to Brad Stevens, has a rare diet.
“I think he lives on heat check, and he should,” the Celtics coach said after his rookie guard set Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on fire Tuesday night with a 30-point performance in a 118-95 win over Cleveland.
“He’s a good shooter. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like that,” said Stevens. “Those were deep, hard 3s. Eight in five minutes? Never seen anything like that. Don’t know that I have any reference point.”
With virtually all of the Celtics’ main rotation players back in Boston, Edwards took things into his own hands in the exhibition finale, bouncing back from a difficult first half.
Edwards and Robert Williams were both casualties – Williams with concussion-like symptoms, courtesy of a Kevin Love elbow, that will require further evaluation back in Boston, and Edwards with a free-flowing bloody nose.
“It hurt, and I was bleeding everywhere – so much blood,” said Edwards. “I was back in the locker room. Good it was no more serious than that. … My approach coming into the second half wasn’t even to get a whole bunch of points. It was to try and find energy – I didn’t feel my energy was really there, and I wanted to be productive and helpful. Get the ball up and down the floor quick, things like that.”
The result was a 26-point third quarter, including eight 3-pointers in a 5:06 span – six of them without a miss.
Edwards, who combined with fellow rookie Tremont Waters (24 points, seven assists) for 54 points and 12 3-pointers, laughed at his coach’s assessment.
“Sometimes I guess I shoot ’em deeper, like heat check shots, but at the end of the day I’m just trying to get better, and games like this make you want to keep working,” he said. “Sometimes that work has helped me.”
ANOTHER POSSIBLE RED CLAW
Rookie Romeo Langford was back on the bench Tuesday night after spraining his right knee Sunday night in Boston against the Cavaliers – this after returning just a game earlier from a strained groin.
“It is kind of annoying, when you feel like you’re making progress and you finally get back, and something little happens and it sets you back a few more steps,” said Langford, the Celtics’ top draft choice in June. “It’s an ongoing process, but all you can do is stay positive. … Definitely feeling better. Probably at some time next week.”
Like Fall, Langford will likely be seeing a lot of the G League.
“Nobody has talked to me about G League, but I know they use it for players to get extra run in and get more prepared and ready,” he said. “I feel it definitely won’t hurt. When the season finally starts, you don’t have that many practices, and that’s what the G League is definitely used for.”
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