WRAPPING up their G League 2024/25 regular season with a tough nine-point loss to the Westchester Knicks, the Maine Celtics will still be encouraged by the performance of two-way player Drew Peterson despite the result.

The Celtics had already clinched a playoff spot with a win, and now with the loss, will be waiting on other results to determine their exact seeding. On the other hand, the Knicks would punch their postseason ticket with a win against Maine, so Westchester certainly had plenty to play for.

The Celtics were far and away the most dominant team to start the match, and steadily built an 18-point lead throughout the first half. Maine looked in the box seat when that buffer was stretched out to 20 points in the third term, but cooled off as the game went on, allowing the Knicks to chip away at the deficit and trail by just five heading into the final frame.

The fourth quarter saw the Knicks prove too good down the stretch, eventually claiming the most important win of their season to date as the Celtics were left to rue a quiet second half.

Although the result was not what Maine was after, Peterson’s performance was one of the biggest positives for the match, and shows just how many weapons the Celtics have heading into the postseason.

Maine Celtics (113) def. by Westchester Knicks (122)

Drew Peterson – 32 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, one steal, one block

Peterson was firing on all cylinders for the Celtics at Westchester County Center when they took on the Knicks, and almost led his team to victory with a massive double-double.

Tasked with bringing the ball up the floor the Celtics, Peterson put an emphasis on holding the ball around the perimeter to start the game, and nailed his first triple after using a screen to dribble left and fire off the wide open attempt.

As the game rolled on, he began to look for holes in the defensive coverage, and worked well in pick and rolls with the Celtics bigs to get his teammates open close to the basket. Although his passes could be slightly wayward at times (he recorded six turnovers), the two-way player still generated plenty of scores for others.

The big emphasis for Peterson on the offensive end was three-point shooting, with the 25-year-old setting the Maine record for long range attempts in a match. It was perfectly demonstrated in transition, when he had the ball in a two-on-one situation with another teammate. Instead of pushing the ball inside, Peterson took advantage of the defender committing to the other Celtics player, and splashed home the pull-up triple.

He particularly caught fire in the first term, with 14 points and four triples in the first 10 minutes to help the Celtics jump out to an early lead. His success from behind the arc in the opening period laid the foundation for the rest of his match, with Peterson looking for space behind the arc wherever possible.

Although perimeter shooting was his go-to option scoring the rock, he also showed his skill when driving inside with a crafty play in the fourth quarter. With the Knicks quickly erasing the deficit and making a push, the Celtics needed a steadier, and Peterson delivered. He used a spin move to lose his opponent at the top of the key, before driving inside with a one-handed scoop layup, finishing through contact for the and-one in one of the highlight plays of the match.

The Knicks ended up getting the job done and completing the comeback, but it was still a tremendous performance from Peterson, who finished with 32 points (11/27 FG, 9/21 3PT) to go with 12 rebounds and seven boards to head into the postseason with some wind in his sail.