WALTHAM, Mass. — Brad Stevens last set foot on Maine soil seven or eight years ago, when he was recruiting at Lee Academy for his basketball team at Butler University.

Stevens, now head coach of the Boston Celtics, returns to the state Wednesday night for an exhibition game at Portland’s Cross Insurance Arena with the Toronto Raptors.

The Celtics last played a preseason game in Portland in 1995, against the Cleveland Cavaliers. This will be Boston’s first game in Maine since forming a partnership in 2009 with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA’s D-League. That partnership, Stevens said, should become even stronger this year.

“I think it’s great that we get a chance to play up there,” Stevens said Tuesday at the Celtics’ practice facility. “A big part of the development program is having a good D-League program with good coaches who are committed to player development, and having guys who are in training camp who will ultimately play there.”

Stevens, unlike his predecessor Doc Rivers, never made it to the Portland Expo last winter to watch the Red Claws in person. Then again, also unlike Rivers, Stevens didn’t have a son playing for Maine.

Even so, Stevens kept tabs on the Claws by watching their games over the Internet. He paid particularly close attention to Chris Babb, who wound up playing 14 games with the Celtics, and Vitor Faverani, a 6-foot-11 center from Brazil.

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“I was following those guys, but it’s hard in the middle of the season,” said Stevens, who said he hopes the transition from Portland to Boston can be even smoother than it was for Babb, which is part of the reason new Red Claws coach Scott Morrison has been working closely with Stevens and the Celtics since mid-August.

“We’re trying to make that even more of a priority this year,” Stevens said. “Scott’s been here now for the better part of a month and a half, so he’s been able to learn what we’re doing and they’ll play very similar to us.”

Morrison, who wore a black T-shirt Tuesday while Stevens opted for green, said he expects three or four of the players dressed for Wednesday’s game to ultimately wind up with the Red Claws, after Boston trims its roster from 20 to 15 before the season opener Oct. 29.

“Some guys, if they get cut, may choose to go overseas or explore other options,” said Morrison, whose training camp in Portland will begin shortly after the D-League draft on Nov. 1. “But we’re hoping to have three to four affiliate players. You can’t have more than four.”

The Celtics are 2-2 in the preseason, both losses coming over the weekend. The first was Friday night in Ontario against the Raptors, who rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to win 116-109.

The Celtics also lost Saturday to the New York Knicks at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, 96-80. Boston won its first two preseason games the previous week, at Philadelphia (98-78) and in Hartford, Connecticut, against the Knicks (106-86).

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Stevens said he expects forward Jeff Green to make his first preseason appearance Wednesday night in Portland. Green returned to practice Monday after missing nine days with a strained calf muscle.

Injured Celtics not expected to play Wednesday are Rajon Rondo (hand surgery), Gerald Wallace (knee soreness), Faverani (knee surgery) and rookie James Young (hamstring).

The only Red Claw alumnus on the current Celtics roster is guard Avery Bradley, a 2010 first-round pick who played nine games for Maine during his rookie season. In addition seeing Bradley, Morrison said Maine fans should enjoy watching “a couple of new players who are making a big impact, in Evan Turner and Marcus Smart, for example. People can also see how some of the young guys from last year have developed over the past 12 months, like Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger. You kind of get a nice little preview of what to expect for the season.”

Toronto’s starting lineup Friday night included All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan, 2013 Slam Dunk Contest winner Terrence Ross, a forward, and guard Kyle Lowry, who led the team with 18 points and left an impression on Smart.

“He’s not your ordinary guard,” Smart said Tuesday before practice. “All these guys are here for a reason. They’re going to make you pay if you gamble.”

The Celtics have three more exhibition games after playing Toronto Wednesday night. On Thursday night they play the 76ers in Philadelphia before concluding with consecutive games against Brooklyn Sunday in New York and next Wednesday in Boston.


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