The Erie BayHawks are in the playoffs – again.

With New York Knicks senior vice president Glen Grunwald in attendance, the BayHawks clinched a playoff berth with an 110-108 victory Tuesday night at Tullio Arena.

The Knicks are Erie’s NBA hybrid affiliate.

Erie (27-21) has made the D-League playoffs in three of its four D-League seasons, doing so last season and this season under Jay Larranaga. In 2009 as expansion franchise, Erie made it under John Treloar.

The BayHawks still have a shot at winning the East Conference, which would give then the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and the opportunity to pick their first-round playoff opponent. The BayHawks are a game behind conference leader Dakota (28-20).

Erie needs to win its last two games against Canton (26-21) on Friday at home and Saturday at Canton and have Dakota lose its last two games at Fort Wayne on Friday and Saturday.

At 12-35, the Mad Ants have the D-League’s worst record. Since the Wizards own the tiebreaker against Erie, the BayHawks must finish a game ahead of them to win the conference.

Point guard Blake Ahearn shot just 5-of-13 from the field in Erie's 106-101 loss in Game 1 Sunday at Tullio Arena.

Up 12 early in the fourth quarter, the Erie BayHawks wound up losing Game 1, 106-101, to the Reno Bighorns in the first round of the D-League playoffs Sunday at Tullio Arena.

Game 2 is Tuesday in Reno, Nev. at 10 p.m.  Game 3, if necessary, will be Thursday in Reno at 10 p.m.

Erie led 85-73 with 10 minutes, 43 seconds left in the game Sunday. Here’s how Erie got the lead.

1. Made shots: The BayHawks shot 51.1 percent in the first half to go up, 55-50, at the break. Ivan Johnson had 18 first-half points on 8-of-12 shooting. Erie had 26 points in the paint.

2. Strong bench play: Erik Daniels had nine points and five rebounds in the first half. Jermaine Beal hit a pair of 3-point shots. Erie had a 17-12 edge in bench points.

3. Energy: Playing off the crowd, the fifth-seeded BayHawks were quicker to the ball, had Reno frustrated and kept the second-seeded Bighorns off balance. Reno had eight turnovers in the first half.

Now here’s how Reno erased Erie’s lead.

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Earlier this week, Reno coach Eric Musselman called it case two coaches being “competitive.”

As the Erie BayHawks (32-18) head into Game 1 of their best-of-three D-League playoff series against the second-seeded Bighorns (34-16), check out how Musselman and Utah Flash coach Kevin Young got into it this season.

Now Musselman, who was an NBA head coach with the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, wasn’t suspended for this, but this shows how “competitive” he can be.

Combo guard Loren Stokes has started five games for the Erie BayHawks (32-18) this season.

There are times when Loren Stokes shows why he scored 2,148 career points at Hofstra. Then he’ll have moments of indecision and make mistakes.

However, Erie coach Jay Larranaga feels as if Stokes is finding his groove at the right time as the fifth-seeded BayHawks play Game 1 of their best-of-three series against second-seeded Reno on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Tullio Arena.

“He’s comfortable,” Larranaga said. “He’s got a different games than most guys. He’s a basketball player. You put him on the court. He’s going to get rebounds. He’s going to get assists. Going to get points.”

In 22 games with Erie, Stokes, a Buffalo native, is averaging only 4.8 points, three rebounds and 2.1 assists. He shooting 53.8 percent from the field, but has only made 1-of-5 shots from 3-point range and is just 21-of-41 from the free throw line.

Stokes has only scored in double figures twice this season, going for 11 in losses against Iowa and Tulsa, but Larranaga had high praise for him.

“I don’t know if you can actually put him in a box of he’s a point guard, he’s a 2-guard,” Larranaga said. “He’s just a basketball player. My way of thinking, I am very specialized and I like organization and stuff. So Loren is one of those guys that I just want to put him out there and trust that he’s going to make the right decisions almost every time. I think he’s comfortable.”

Larranaga remembers watching Stokes have big games in college against George Mason, who is coached by Larranaga’s dad, Jim.

“He killed my dad’s team for four straight years,” Larranaga said. “He competes defensively. He rebounds and he’s a very good offensive player. So I think he’s ended the season well. Thought he played really well against Maine and against Iowa so we’re hoping he can be a big part of us in the playoffs.”

The Erie BayHawks split their two-game series at Bakersfield by winning Friday night in double overtime, 123-121, and losing Saturday night, 126-98.

The BayHawks (28-16) are 1-3 on this five-game road trip that ends Tuesday night at Fort Wayne (21-23), which is clinging to that eighth and final playoff spot.

Setting a franchise record for most wins in a single season, Erie is in the fifth spot. It’s just a half game behind Reno (29-16), but would lose a tiebreaker to the Bighorns because they beat the BayHawks during this road trip.

Erie is just a half game ahead of Bakersfield (27-16), which is in the sixth spot. The big thing for the BayHawks is trying to get back to that fourth spot so they can have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

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Kyle Spain and the Erie BayHawks have more work to do before the D-League playoffs begin next month.

A night in Reno.

The BayHawks resume their five-game road trip tomorrow at Reno (26-16) and follow that up with two games at Bakersfield (25-16) before rounding it up Tuesday at Fort Wayne (19-23).

Erie opened the road trip with a 133-126 loss Sunday at Iowa, which has the D-League’s best record at 32-11.

Erie (27-14) has clinched the playoffs and is right now a fourth seed. The top four seeds have home-court advantage for the first round and the top three seeds get to pick their first-round opponent.

Reno is just 1.5 games behind Erie and Bakersfield trails the BayHawks by two games. If the BayHawks lose those three, they could drop from fourth to seventh in a hurry.

Plus the Bighorns and Jam will own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the BayHawks.

And don’t think that game at Fort Wayne will be easy.

Erie is 4-1 against the Mad Ants, but they’re vying for the final playoff spot and have a former BayHawk in point guard Derek Raivio, who landed in Fort Wayne following a three-team trade last month.

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Derrick Rose is a scary match up for most NBA teams, but he's a nightmare for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

They can’t get two straight against the NBA’s top-seeded playoff team?

Well.

The Chicago Bulls will try to even up their first-round Eastern Conference series against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the United Center on Sunday.

If Kirk Hinrich can play as he did in Game 3 and Derrick Rose does his thing, the Bulls got a shot Sunday. One of the Cavaliers weaknesses is they have trouble defending guard penetration.

So Rose has been a handful and when Hinrich is playing well, the Bulls are a handful. However, the Cavaliers do have LeBron James so they should take care of business, take Game 4 and close out the series Tuesday at home in Quicken Loans Arena.

If they lose Sunday, oh boy, now we got a series.

Good evening

Here in Cleveland getting ready for what feels like a playoff game.

It’s only the opener, but a serious buzz is running through Quicken Loans Arena for tonight’s game between the Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics.

Just some quick bits.

Cleveland guard Delonte West is out for today’s game. As you know, West’s wife filed a domestic violence report on him Monday. He was already facing bi-polar issues and the weapons charge.

That’s  a lot on that young man’s plate to deal with. He is in the arena, is dressed and will warm up with the team, but will not play. Who knows when he will go. It’s a sad situation really.

Be back in minute.

The Erie BayHawks need rookie combo guard Maureece Rice to deliver if they're going to make the playoffs in their first year in the D-League. Erie currently owns the eighth and final playoff spot.

Tonight’s the night.

The Erie BayHawks aren’t playing Thursday, but they should take a look at the outcome of tonight’s games. They will impact Erie’s playoff hopes and Central Division championship aspirations.

Here’s the latest.

The Erie BayHawks (25-23) are still clinging to that eighth and final playoff spot.

Here’s more.

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Guard Majic Dorsey and the expansion Reno Bighorns are making that final push for a playoff spot.

The Reno Bighorns are scuffing at the heels of the Erie BayHawks (25-23) in this D-League playoff chase.

An expansion franchise just like Erie, Reno (24-24) is just a game behind the BayHawks after its 124-118 upset win at Austin (29-18) on Tuesday night.

As we all know, Reno started the season in reverse. The Bighorns lost 12 of their first 13 games.

Boy how times have changed. Reno has won its last four games and 12 of its last 16.

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