The Erie BayHawks are now 0-6 against the Maine Red Claws after losing to the D-League expansion team, 102-95, Sunday evening.

By losing to Maine (22-14), Erie (13-24) will not be able to match last seasons’ record when it finished 27-23 as an expansion team.

When Erie and Reno entered the league last season, they picked from a pool of players the other teams didn’t want in the expansion draft. When Maine and Springfield joined the league this season, they picked players from defunct  Colorado and Anaheim.

Now the 14ers won the 2009 D-League title, but the Arsenal were awful last season. So how is Maine so good and Springfield has the D-League’s worst record at 5-26 when they picked from the same teams?

One thing is certain. The Red Claws are playoff bound and Erie needs a miracle to make a second consecutive playoff appearance.

If Springfield is able to keep Marcus Campbell, it will have a true enforcer in the paint.

The D-League had its expansion draft for Springfield and Maine today.

Springfield used the first pick to tab 7-footer Marcus Campbell while Maine took athletic swing man James White, who finished the 2008-09 season in the NBA with the Houston Rockets.

Unlike a year ago when Erie and Reno picked unprotected players from the remaining D-League teams, Springfield and Maine picked guys from 2009 D-League champion Colorado and Anaheim, two teams that are now defunct.

Hmmm.

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Although he was on a bad team in Anaheim, James White was a 2008-09 D-League All-Star.

The NBA D-League will have its expansion draft Sept. 2 to fill rosters for the two expansion teams – Maine Red Claws and Springfield (Mass.) Armor.

They’re going to pick teams from a “Returning Player Lists” of the two now defunct teams – Colorado 14ers and Anaheim Arsenal.

I tell you what, Maine and Springfield have some good players to choose from.

Very good.

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Tejay Anderson and the Erie BayHawks haven't lost sight of what's at stake tonight. A win at Fort Wayne will earn them a playoff bid in their first season in the D-League. Erie is 3-2 vs. the Mad Ants.

Win and they’re in.

A victory at Fort Wayne tonight (7:30 p.m.) will put the Erie BayHawks in the playoffs in their first year in the D-League.

A loss will put them in a must-win situation Saturday against the Mad Ants at home only if Sioux Falls is able to win at Iowa tonight.

Sounds simple enough? Well, not exactly.

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All-Star power forward Erik Daniels and the Erie BayHawks still have a fighting chance to win the Central Division in their first year in the D-League.

Yep.

The Erie BayHawks (25-23) can still win the Central Division, get one of those top three seeds in the D-League playoffs and home-court advantage in their first-round game.

The BayHawks are a game out of first place in the Central Division behind co-leaders Iowa (26-24) and Dakota (26-24). Erie finishes the regular season with back-to-back games against Fort Wayne (19-29).

The first one is at Fort Wayne and the regular-season finale is Saturday at home. Erie is 3-2 against the Mad Ants, winning all three at home and losing two at Fort Wayne.

Iowa closes out the regular season with home games against Dakota on Thursday and against Sioux Falls (24-24) on Friday. As for Dakota, the Wizards follow their game at Iowa with a regular-season finale at home against Anaheim (15-32) on Friday.

Looking at head-to-head tiebreaker situations, Erie has the tiebreaker against Iowa, but not Dakota. Iowa has the tiebreaker against Dakota regardless of what happens in that last game between the two.

So let’s have some fun with this.

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The home of the Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, Mass., is now the location of the D-League's latest expansion franchise.

For now, the D-League looks as if it’s going to have 17 teams for next season. The league has added two franchises in Springfield, Mass., and Portland, Maine, but a current team – the Anaheim Arsenal – is relocating to Springfield.

So our sports department intern, Eric Peddigree, and I took a moment to see what would be the best way to divide the league up. So we printed out a map of the United States and began to go to work on it.

“All I need is a piece of paper,” Eric said.

I provided the pen. It wasn’t that hard. The D-League probably already got it figured out, but just in case it doesn’t, Eric and I wanted to help the league out.

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Maureece Rice has helped keep the Erie BayHawks in playoff contention by averaging 24.3 points in 13 games since the all-star break. That's nearly seven more points than his season average of 17.9.

Bunched together.

That’s how the bottom of the D-League playoff chase looks right now.

After Sunday’s games, the Erie BayHawks (24-22), Dakota Wizards (23-21), Albuquerque Thunderbirds (23-21) and Sioux Falls Skyforce (24-22) are tied for the seventh spot.

Eight teams make the playoffs. So four teams are vying for two playoff spots.

Here’s how they stack up in head-to-head scenarios.

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