It was a history-making home debut for the Maine Celtics on Friday night. For better and for worse.

Alex O’Connell scored 23 points, Chuma Okeke added 20 and the Westchester Knicks took down the cold-shooting Celtics, 127-100, in front of a sold-out crowd of 2,417 fans at the Portland Expo, spoiling both Maine’s home opener and a night in which JD Davison become the franchise’s all-time leading scorer.

Moses Brown added 12 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks (3-0 through the first three games of the Tip-Off Tournament). Baylor Scheierman led Maine (1-2) with 15 points, while Jay Scrubb added 12. But offensive highlights for the Celtics were rare, and defensive stops were even rarer as Maine gave up 84 first-half points – the most surrendered in a half in team history.

“I definitely would say it wasn’t our night,” Davison said. “It definitely was their night. They hit a lot of tough shots, and a lot of open shots. We got a lot of good shots up tonight, so we’ve just got to go back to the drawing board, come back Sunday and try to get a win.”

With 3:13 to go in the first quarter, Davison, a 2022 second-round draft pick out of Alabama in his third year with the team, made a free throw to put him over the former franchise record of 1,591 points, set by Chris Wright from 2011-14.

Davison entered the game five points shy of the mark, and fans gave him an ovation as the public address announcer told them of the accomplishment.

“I just come out and try to do my job every day, try to put my best foot forward,” said Davison, who finished with 11 points and seven assists. “It sucked being down at that point in the game, we didn’t want to lose that game … but you’ve got to love the Expo crowd.”

Celtics Coach Tyler Lashbrook said Davison has earned the adulation.

“He’s a fan favorite,” Lashbrook said. “I’m always impressed with him and his maturity and his growth and his ability to grow here year after year.”

The rest of the game, however, gave the fans little to cheer about. Playing in front of their followers for the first time since last year’s G League Finals, the Celtics’ shooting touch was completely absent. One 3-point try after another – open, contested or in transition – hit rim after rim, leading to a 15-for-44 total from the field in the first half, including 6 of 27 from deep, and an 84-46 halftime deficit.

“Through the first two games and camp, the high-percentage shots have been open 3s,” Lashbrook said. “If we get them, we have to take them. When shots aren’t falling, you have to sort of lean in to your crashing to try to get more shots.”

With 3:33 left in the first quarter, Scheierman hit a 3-pointer to make it 29-19. Maine missed its next eight 3-point attempts before Jordan Schakel made another with 9:28 left in the second, and the 10-point deficit grew into a 23-point hole in the process.

While shots weren’t falling, Maine also cost itself with reckless ball handling (14 turnovers, to four for Westchester) and porous defense that allowed Knicks players to finish in transition or knock down open shots. The 84 points allowed in the first half broke the team record of 82 set in 2016 and equaled in January 2023.

“There was certainly a part of it that was connected to missing shots,” Lashbrook said. “But to put up 84, it’s got to be more than that. For me, it was about guarding the ball. We said the word ‘pride,’ that was the word that we talked about. Just having the pride to guard the ball.”

One sequence that told the story of the night came when Scheierman missed a 3 and Westchester’s Boo Buie grabbed the rebound and tore up the court, bobbled the ball in the Celtics’ end, and still found Donovan Williams (19 points) for an open 3-pointer that made it 63-34.

It wasn’t all negative, as Maine ate into what became a 51-point lead during a fourth quarter in which it outscored Westchester 40-19. The big quarter could pay dividends later – point differential can break ties for seeding for the Winter Showcase, which awaits after the 14-game Tip-Off Tournament – and Lashbrook gave his team credit for showing fight late.

“(We) were just looking for a group that would come in and give us something,” said Lashbrook, who got 12 points in the fourth from Scrubb and 11 from Tristan Enaruna. “Those guys … came in and played and battled. Those are the things we’re looking for.”