Maine Celtics Notebook: JD Davison dazzles in blowout win, Jordan Walsh appreciates 3am G League assignment, Miles Norris catches fire

The Maine Celtics made history with a playoff franchise record of 20 three-pointers, blowing out the Capital City Go-Go to advance to the next round of the G League playoffs.

PORTLAND, Maine. — The Maine Celtics beat the Capital City Go-Go, 115-95, to begin their pursuit of a franchise-first G League title after falling short in the Finals last season.

But there were no outward celebrations after the resounding playoff victory. Instead, the Celtics immediately looked ahead to their next postseason game, which will take place on Thursday against the Westchester Knicks.

“It’s a short turnaround, you know what I’m saying?” said Maine center James Banks III, who protected the rim with fury and set screens all night to get shooters open. “We thinking about New York right now.”

The Celtics set a new franchise record for most threes in a playoff game, hitting 20 in total (and 9 of their first 11 attempts). They led by as many as 34 and never allowed the Go-Go to make a real run, playing stifling defense and continuously hitting a barrage of three-pointers.

“They had no answers,” said Jordan Walsh, who was assigned to the G League last-minute for the game. “They had no answers at all.”

JD Davison, consistently one of the league’s best players this season, led the charge with 38 points and 12 assists, hitting 7 of 10 from beyond the arc. The Celtics’ two other two-way players — Drew Peterson and Miles Norris — started alongside Davison, as did Walsh, who was primarily on the Maine Celtics last year but has been mostly with the parent club this season. Norris hit his first four three-pointers to help the Celtics blow the game open early on.

Celtics general manager Brad Stevens, assistant general manager Mike Zarren, and Ashley Battle, the assistant general manager for the Maine Celtics, all sat courtside for the game.

Here’s what stood out from on the ground in Portland.

JD Davison is unstoppable

Davison put together a ridiculous performance against the Go-Go, tallying 38 points on 15-22 shooting, 12 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. He was also a +38 in his 37 minutes.

Head coach Tyler Lashbrook said that Davison has figured out how to navigate all types of defenses.

“He’s just really in control of whatever he’s thrown at him,” Lashbrook said. “He’s basically —at this point through this season and last season — seen every coverage that you could possibly see, whether people are being aggressive with it, whether they’re trying to go under, whether they’re weakening, whether they’re playing zone, he’s seen all those coverages. He works on those coverages every day, and he’s got answers for all of them.”

His teammates are no longer surprised at these types of performances.

“He’s one of the best basketball players,” Banks said.

While Davison has always been elite at playmaking and driving to the basket, he’s making strides in other aspects of his game, like three-point shooting, defense, and being a vocal leader.

He struggled from beyond the arc earlier in his career, shooting 26.6% from three last season. This year, he’s shot a career-best 33.3% from three, and he hit 7 of 10 in Tuesday’s victory.

“I definitely didn’t change anything,” Davison said of his improved shot. “It’s just trusting my work that I put in this summer, put in during the season.”

Davison also said that this season, he’s been more outspoken — and said that some of that has come from seeing the guards on the Boston Celtics assert themselves as leaders on the court too.

“They told me to keep being me,” Davison said. “Just watching guys like Payton, D-White and Jrue — they talk to guys, they tell JT things.”

He’s also made it a point to improve as a defender — in this one, he matched up with Kira Lewis Jr. and helped hold him to 2 points on just 1-7 shooting. Lewis was drafted 13th overall in 2020 and played in the NBA for four seasons, which Davison said motivated him.

“Just trying to be one the best defensive players on the court every night, just knowing, to get to the next level to play every night, you got to be able to guard guys,” Davison said. “So just trying to come out and battle. Especially tonight, I took that matchup kind of personal with Kira Lewis, because he was in the league for a little minute.”

Every game, the coaching staff awards a player on the roster a defensive chain, recognizing their defense that night. On Tuesday, it was Davison who fittingly won the honors.

Jordan Walsh was happy to be assigned to the G League for the game

Walsh, who has spent the season with the Boston Celtics, joined the Maine Celtics for Tuesday’s single-elimination game. He finished with 11 points (4-12 FG), 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in 26 minutes.

It was a last-minute call-up for Walsh, who was with the Celtics for their six-game Western Conference road trip but only got 9 minutes of on-court action. The second-year forward got home from Memphis at 3 am late Monday night, and soon after, he got a text letting him know he’d be playing with Maine the following night in their first postseason game.

So, he got up in the morning, packed his bags, and headed to Portland, where he spent most of his rookie season.

“I was happy,” Walsh said. “I wanted to get some reps, I wanted to play. Being the playoffs, and us getting so close last year, I wanted to come back and try to make a step for trying to get over the hump that we didn’t get over last year. So, glad to help. It did not look like they needed me tonight. They were on fire.”

The crowd welcomed Walsh with cheers, with a particularly loud pop coming when he was introduced before the game. He became a fan favorite in Portland last winter but hasn’t been around much this year.

Walsh’s insertion into the starting lineup meant that DJ Rodman, who has been starting for Maine for the past few weeks, was moved to the bench. But, the scrappy forward had no complaints, Lashbrook said.

“That’s not our group,” he said, adding: “DJ, he was excited just to be in the rotation and be playing in playoff minutes and be doing it at a high level, so he wasn’t affected. And I feel really lucky and grateful that I have a group that’s like that.”

Davison said the team was excited to have Walsh on board.

“I think a lot of people know what Jordan brings to the table,” Davison said. “He got a 7’2 wingspan, he can guard, he can shoot the ball. We knew when he was coming down, we knew we kind of had an advantage. We’ll take that”.

Miles Norris can really shoot

Miles Norris, who signed a two-way contract with the Celtics last month, hit his first four three-pointers en route to a 16-point night. He shot 5 of 6 from the field and also racked up 3 steals and 2 blocks in 27 minutes.

“It was good to see him aggressive,” Lashbrook said. “It was good to see him take those opportunities. I thought that he impacted the game on both ends — just his athleticism, his size, his attention to detail on the all the game plan stuff I thought was massive. He was huge.”

The Maine Celtics’ defense is stifling

The Celtics held the Go-Go to 95 points on 39.5% shooting — and to just 35 points in the first half. The players attributed the team’s defense to the coaching staff, who had a few extra days to prepare for the matchup against the Go-Go.

“Man, it was our game plan,” Banks said. “Our coaches did a great staff at breaking everybody down, breaking down on what they do, breaking down the personnel. What you guys saw tonight on defense was all to the coaches.”

Lashbrook liked the high-level defensive execution that he said.

“I saw a group that was really dialed into the gameplan,” he said.

Walsh played with several of the current guys in Maine last season, like Davison, Peterson, Banks, Jordan Shakel. Coming in, he was immediately struck by how strong the chemistry and camaraderie on the team were.

“Their togetherness is on a different level — guys making jokes on the sideline, everybody’s just connected,” Walsh said. “They’re moving as, like, a single machine. And it’s pretty cool to watch, for sure.”

Everyone is bought into doing the “thankless” work

Davison will get the credit, but the screen-setting by guys like Banks and backup center Hason Ward also played a massive part in getting the onslaught going.

“That’s thankless for me, but end of the day, my ego lies in how far this team goes, how much we win, what our ratings are on offense, defense, how good of a team we are, how good of a team we can be,” Banks said.

Lashbrook gave a lot of the credit for the Celtics’ shooting performance to the team’s screensetters.

“Those guys work on their screening every single day,” Lashbrook said. “I mean, there are drills where they might not shoot the ball. They’re working specifically on their angles.”

Next up: the Westchester Knicks

Next up, the Maine Celtics will face the Westchester Knicks on Thursday at 7 pm ET. The two teams faced off in the final game of the regular season, when Maine suffered a scrappy 122-113 loss.

Everyone expressed their excitement to get a chance at a rematch with Westchester.

“No bullet board material, but we want more,” Banks said.

The winner of Thursday’s game will play in the conference finals on April 6th, with the G League finals beginning on Tuesday, April 8th.