3 Studs, 3 duds from Maine Celtics 109-91 loss to Long Island Nets

PORTLAND — Another day, another game at the Portland Expo, their third in four days. The Long Island Nets were in town to play the Maine Celtics, highlighted by 2024 NBA Champion Oshae Brissett, who signed a G League contract with the Nets on Friday. It marked his return to professional basketball after not re-signing with the Boston Celtics over the summer.

Maine had control after the first quarter, 26-23, but from there, the Nets established a steady lead of around 10 points. The Celtics cut it down to a one-possession game a few times, but Long Island kept pushing back. By the time the fourth quarter came around, Maine was fighting to gain control but battling rocky shooting.

Brissett’s night included a four-point play to end the third quarter as Maine struggled with turnovers for most of the afternoon. DJ Rodman and Anton Watson dominated the glass for the Celtics, but a big part of that was because there were so many missed shots to grab rebounds on.

Long Island turned up the heat in the fourth quarter, establishing a massive lead as the Celtics failed to convert on the offensive chances (and their turnover problem persisted). They ballooned their lead for the entire 10-minute period and finished the afternoon with a 109-91 win over Maine.

Here are three studs and three duds from the game.

Stud - DJ Rodman

The Celtics organization has found something in Rodman. Son of NBA legend Dennis Rodman, the 6-foot-6 guard makes his money the same way his dad did—hustle.

Every time you look up, Rodman is grabbing an offensive rebound, pressuring a ball-handler, or filling space to make a play. There is no wasted movement. Everything is intentional.

After Thursday’s overtime win over the College Park Skyhawks, head coach Tyler Lashbrook ended his press conference with unprompted praise for the 23-year-old.

“That is an amazing story,” Lashbrook said. “We picked him up just a couple of weeks ago off the local player pool, and he's come in and just filled a role and brought a lot of energy. And he's earned minutes with us, and [he] really played his tail off today. And we're just really, really proud of sort of where he's at, and what he provides to us, and I just think he deserves a shoutout. That's not easy to sort of do what he's done. 

“To not be on a team, come to a team, and immediately play big minutes. And he played big minutes the last time he played. He played big minutes tonight, and he made huge plays down the stretch for us. And yeah, so shout out to DJ.”

It was more of the same on Sunday afternoon. Through the first three-and-a-half minutes of the game, Rodman had four rebounds, and after one, Lashbrook called out his name, clapped his hands and shouted him out, and a smile crept across Rodman’s face.

Rodman is the real deal.

Dud - Jay Scrubb

The same successes Rodman saw on Sunday were not there nearly as much for Jay Scrubb, who is in Maine after recovering from a torn ACL in 2023 Celtics training camp.

Scrubb has had a solid season with Maine thus far, averaging 15.3 points in 26.8 minutes per game, but his efficiency hasn’t been amazing (40.% from the field and 32.9% from deep).

The rough efficiency showed up on Sunday, but the turnovers were his bigger issue. Scrubb turned the ball over five times in the first quarter alone, and too often did he fail to hustle back on defense.

To his credit, Scrubb turned up the intensity in the third quarter. He had some nice buckets and was a solid ball-handling option for Maine when JD Davison was off the floor. Still, it was an inconsistent night, at the very least.

Stud - Anton Watson

Though his plus/minus may speak to a different reality, Watson impacts winning whenever he’s on the floor. He has a great feel for the and always seems to be in a spot to make a play.

His passing is perhaps the most underrated part of his game, as he’s able to be a connector for this Maine squad, and that was important on Sunday.

Watson’s defense, which Summer League head coach DJ MacLeay said was “NBA-ready” back in July, also stands out. He can stick with guards and bang with bigs.

And when he needs to score, he can do it. His floater game inside looks crisp, and the threes are flying with confidence, too (and going in at a solid rate).

Dud - Turnovers

Scrubb wasn’t the only player who had turnover problems on Sunday afternoon. It was a team-wide issue and a huge reason Maine lose ground after a decent first period.

Davison, who is the offensive focal point for Maine, turned the ball over more times than usual, even for a high-usage guard. Add in some sporadic giveaways from guys up and down the roster, and it was just a bad category for the Celtics.

Stud - Hason Ward

Though it wasn’t a huge box-score game for Hason Ward, he made a huge impact on this game. His presence around the rim was crucial for the Celtics on both ends of the floor.

Similar to Watson and Rodman, Ward did a great job of just being in the right place. He played off Maine’s ball-handlers well, sinking into open space on the floor, ready to make a play if the ball came his way.

Ward can jump out of the gym, too, so he was great for Maine on the defensive side of the ball. His blocks were paired with a healthy dose of pressure at the rim that threw of numerous Nets players driving to the rim.

Dud - JD Davison

Like Scrubb, Davison caught the turnover bug on Sunday afternoon. Whether he was trying to thread passes through defenders or simply get the ball up the court (he got pressured by Hayes into a back-court violation), Davison couldn’t stop coughing up possession.

To make matters worse, Davison wasn’t scoring efficiently on Sunday, either. The threes weren’t going down, and neither were the tough interior shots he’s become known for in Maine.

When you carry the load as much as Davison does from an offensive perspective, off days are bound to happen, and Sunday was one of them.