James's 37 Points Not Enough As Charge Lose in Maine

PORTLAND, ME – The Cleveland Charge (1-3) of the NBA G League, presented by Cleveland Clinic, were topped by the Maine Celtics (2-1), 98-86, at the Portland Expo Building on Saturday afternoon.

Justin James poured in a game-high 37 points with five assists and four steals in 39 minutes.  Tre Scott added 10 points and seven rebounds in 41 minutes.  Tacko Fall scored nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 26 minutes.  Josh Huestis scored , while Sheldon Mac added 11 points for Cleveland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-aPWD8vo6c

The Charge trailed 18-14 after a defensive minded first quarter where both teams shot below 31% and neither team made a trip to the free-throw line.  Both teams turned the ball over seven times each in the second but Maine hit 6-of-11 threes as a team in the quarter to help pad their lead to 42-34, a new season low in half scoring for Cleveland.

The Celtics led by as many as 17 in the third quarter, outscoring the Charge 25-18 despite eight turnovers in the period and 20 overall to that point.  Trailing 67-52 to begin the final frame, Cleveland went on a 13-3 run in the opening 3:28 to pull back within five.  That would be the closest the visitors would get, as Maine responded with a 11-5 run to go back up double digits and keep their distance the rest of the way.

Maine was paced by Sam Hauser’s 31 points on 9-of-15 from three-point range with nine rebounds and four steals in 39 minutes.  Juwan Morgan posted a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds with two steals in 42 minutes.  Former Charge F Deng Adel scored 15 points and grabbed two steals in 26 minutes off the bench.

Cleveland next heads north of the border for a pair of games against the Raptors 905 beginning on Thursday, January 20 at 7:30 p.m. – Watch live on ESPN+ and listen live on 1350 AM The Gambler!  Click here or call 216-420-2730 to land your spot at a Charge game this season!

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Rock Entertainment Group is the umbrella entity of the teams and venues that are part of Dan Gilbert’s Rock Family of Companies.  It includes the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, the AHL Cleveland Monsters, the NBA G League Charge and Cavs Legion of the NBA 2K League; the operation of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Legion Lair Lit by TCP home of Cavs Legion in Cleveland and Cleveland Clinic Courts - the Cavaliers’ training and development center in Independence, Ohio. As the unified brand platform, Rock  Entertainment Group formally links multiple sports, venues, music, and content properties together to better position them collectively for collaboration, growth and new opportunities, while relentlessly creating amazing experiences for fans, teams, partners, stakeholders and thousands of staff members across the full spectrum of properties.