Top seed Maine, '14 champ Fort Wayne open D-League playoffs

NEW YORK (AP) Top-seeded Maine will open the NBA Development League playoffs Tuesday against defending champion Fort Wayne.

The Red Claws will travel to Indiana for Game 1 because the lower-seeded team hosts the opener of the best-of-three series. Games 2 and 3, if necessary, would be in Portland, where Maine was a league-best 20-6.

The other game Tuesday has Austin at Bakersfield. On Wednesday, the Santa Cruz Warriors begin their pursuit of a third straight trip to the D-League Finals when they visit Oklahoma City, while in the Eastern Conference, Canton hosts Sioux Falls.

The Red Claws won their final two games to tie the Warriors with a 35-15 record and owned the tiebreaker to earn the home-court advantage through the playoffs. But Maine's title hopes may have taken a hit after guard Tim Frazier was called up to the Portland Trail Blazers.

All the games during the three-round postseason will be televised on ESPN networks.