BOSTON — The Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks weren’t exactly bitter foes upon entering their first-round NBA playoff series, but an unexpected rivalry quickly developed from the get-go.
In a matchup of play-making point guards, Terry Rozier and Eric Bledsoe rapidly garnered the bulk of the attention as the series progressed. Rozier seemingly ignited the feud after Game 1 by accidentally calling his cross-court opponent “Drew Bledsoe,” but the Bucks guard upped the ante after Game 2 by insisting he didn’t know who Rozier was.
Luckily for hoops fans, this wasn’t limited to a war of words. Instead, it produced great competition. After Rozier paced the C’s to the first two wins in Boston, Bledsoe was an integral piece in leading the Bucks to a pair of wins in Milwaukee in Games 3 and 4. And as things heated up, it only was right for the feud to culminate with a win-or-go-home clash.
Game 7 brought out the best of both point guards, but it was Rozier who ultimately came out on top. Bledsoe gave him a run for his money with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, but the Celtics guard edged his opponent with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting to go along with nine assists. Furthermore, 12 of those points came in the fourth quarter, helping Boston seal Milwaukee’s fate, a 112-96 loss Saturday night at TD Garden.
Despite the apparent animosity that built between the two guards as the series progressed, Rozier didn’t appear to hold any ill will toward Bledsoe. After Game 7, the 24-year-old attributed all that boiled over during the series as the heat of battle.
“You just go out there having fun,” Rozier said. “You’ve got two guys that want to win, two chippy guys. Two short point guards, just going out there and having fun. If it takes for us to jaw back and forth and battle and push each other, it’s whatever, it’s just part of the game. At the end of the day, we talked after the game, you know, little stuff.”
Bledsoe echoed those sentiments while also praising Rozier for his play throughout the series.
Now, Rozier moves on to a far more unique challenge in his next point guard matchup: Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons.
