VIPERS FALL SHORT AGAINST CELTICS 

Portland, Maine (Dec. 31, 2022) – The Rio Grande Valley Vipers (1-2), the NBA G League affiliate of the Houston Rockets, suffered a 136-132 loss against the Maine Celtics (3-0) on Saturday afternoon at Portland Expo Building. 

It was a tight race in the first quarter between both teams. With 7:12 to go the game was tied 13-13. Maine then pulled away and grabbed a 24-19 advantage, but the Vipers fired back and with 3:40 to go RGV once again tied the match 26-26. Despite the Celtics efforts to come back the Vipers went on to score 14 more points while only allowing Maine to score 5 which sent the game into the second quarter with a 40-31 lead for the Vipers.

With 8:12 to go in the second quarter a free throw from Boston Celtics Two-Way player Mfiondu Kabengele gave Maine back a 46-45 advantage, but with less than seven minutes to go RGV came back and tied the game 50-50. Both teams continued to exchange the lead throughout the quarter, but in the end the Celtics would pull away with a 74-69 lead at the half. The Celtics lead was extended throughout the third and eventually sent the game into the fourth with a score of 109-100.

RGV used the fourth quarter to come back and push for a win, but the Celtics were not going down without a fight. With 1:42 to go the Vipers were down by just one point and a score of 131-130. Despite the Vipers efforts, Maine would walk away with a 136-132 win. 

Houston Rockets Two-Way players Trevor Hudgins and Darius Days led the Vipers. Hudgins and Days set a new career-high in points scored with 36 and 30 points, respectively. Cassius Stanley obtained 20 points. Mustapha Heron and Jalen Lecque finished with 18 and 17 points respectively.  

The Vipers will travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Oklahoma City Blue on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 12:00 p.m. CT at Paycom Center. Fans can stream the game via www.NBAGLeague.com.