A game at home was just the right thing to bring the Maine Red Claws back to the win column. The Idaho Stampede visited yesterday, and the Red Claws won, 105-99.
The Stampede were led by former NBA all-star Antoine Walker who had a breakout performance with 25 points and eight boards. Helping him out was one-time NBA’er Luke Jackson with 17 points.
Former Claws assistant coach Randy Livingston and his crew have only managed to win two games in eleven so far. They did win two in a row, when Walker first came to play. They have since lost their last two.
Maine, on the other hand, seemed to be a different team on Thursday. Their shots were dropping (51 percent field goal shooting), and the team actually had a rebounding edge for most of the game (lost the edge 40-39).
On an individual note, several players made this game entertaining, while showing what they can do. DeShawn Sims had his best game as a Red Claw with 24 points and 17 boards. Tiny Gallon, upon his return, went toe-to-toe with Walker and scored 16 points and blocked four shots. Eugene Spates got some play time, and he scored 14 points on six-of-nine shooting.
Six players for the Claws scored double figures, including all five starters. They only committed 13 turnovers all game (they average 20), and blocked eight shots to zero for the Stampede.
The overall effort on defense paid off, and the shots were dropping. They played toward the rim more often, and once they went away from that, Idaho came back. Being back in front of a home crowd made a difference as well.
Next up for Maine is a game tonight in Springfield, which will be the fifth out of ten games against the Armor this season. The game starts at 7pm and is on NBA Futurecast. On Sunday at 5pm, this same Stampede team will be back for an encore.
Thanks for reading this pleasantly positive report from the Red Claws Examiner. Subscribe and get auto updates. Thanks!
Comments