Maine Red Claws (21-14) vs. Erie BayHawks (13-23)
5:00PM Sunday, February 28, Portland Expo

After throttling the Mad Ants Friday night, the Red Claws face a similarly mediocre team in the Erie BayHawks – and one they have done better against this season.

The Red Claws last faced the BayHawks almost a month ago, defeating them 82-78 in Portland. The Red Claws have been significantly revamped since then, of course. One of their newest additions, Mo Almond, had his best game of the year on Friday. What has changed in Erie since that January loss?

Not nearly so much.

The biggest news for the BayHawks lately has been the assignment of Danny Green by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Green has only been with Erie briefly, having appeared in just one game, where he knocked in 34 points. The Red Claws have had success against the BayHawks so far, having defeated them twice in Portland and three times in Fort Wayne. If the Claws can keep their energy up and stay focused, they should be able to continue their success against the BayHawks, Green or no Green.

To do that, the Claws’ performance will have to be more like Friday night’s than Thursday’s. Between their own Thursday loss to Fort Wayne, and the Celtics’ embarrassing loss to the Nets yesterday, the Red Claws need not look far for an example of a good team playing down to a bad one. After the high-energy game Friday, this match-up could turn into a trap game for the Red Claws if they’re not careful. Hopefully the Red Claws learned from their two games with Fort Wayne and now know that they can’t let up, even against seemingly mediocre teams.

They have a real opportunity to continue the momentum from the Friday blowout – it’s all a question of which Red Claws team shows up today.