Which version of Terry Rozier will emerge this postseason?

Terry Rozier’s rookie season in 2015-16 had more than its share of bumps in the road. The surprise No. 16 overall pick in 2015 NBA Draft played in just 39 games but looked overmatched for the majority of them. He shot just 27 percent from the field and 22 percent from 3-point range, while barely averaging a free throw attempt per 36 minutes (1.2). There were signs of potential with his athleticism but they weren’t translating to the NBA level right away, a normal situation for plenty of late first round picks in their first NBA season. He was in and out of the rotation all season, playing just 39 games for a 48-win Celtics team.

Rozier was saddled at the end of the Celtics bench that year (right next to James Young and R.J. Hunter) before a first-round series started against the Atlanta Hawks but that changed quickly once Avery Bradley went down with a hamstring injury in Game 1. With Bradley out, the Celtics needed some backcourt depth to chase around the Hawks speedy guards and provide some shooting off the bench. Hunter and Rozier both got opportunities in Game 2 and 3, but it was quickly apparent that only one player was better equipped to handle playoff basketball on both ends: Rozier. The rookie shot a respectable 36.4 percent from 3 while playing 20 minutes per game, serving as one of the few bright spots in a 4-2 series loss to the far more talented Hawks.

That episode started a familiar trend for the first three years of Rozier’s career: Saving his best basketball of the season for the postseason. In year two, he played over Jaylen Brown for large chunks of series wins against the Bulls and Wizards, providing solid 3-point shooting, strong rebounding and low turnover play. Last season, he took more of a leading role in the offense in place of an injured Kyrie Irving and posted sensational assist-to-turnover and rebounding rates. He scored in double digits for 15 of his 19 games, which helped carry the C’s to the verge of the NBA Finals before a disastrous 0-of-10 3-point shooting night in Game 7. That play lifted his value in the eyes of Danny Ainge and ultimately resulted in him being kept in the summer when trade offers for him proved to be underwhelming, per league sources.

By and large, Rozier has been a net negative for the Celtics over the course of the 2018-19 regular season. He’s posting some of his worst shooting numbers since his rookie year and the Celtics have performed worse on both ends of the floor when he’s been out there. That combined with a crowded depth chart clearly has led to him pressing ahead of his free agency and the results have not been pretty. Yet, with Marcus Smart sidelined with an oblique tear for likely the first two postseason rounds, the question marks surrounding Rozier from his underwhelming regular season are getting pushed to the side. He’s going to get a chance to play a lot of minutes this postseason, out of necessity more than anything else, something the guard is very eager for.

“Obviously it’s tough, especially with a guy like Marcus, his presence and the way he changes the game,” Rozier said. “Obviously it’s tough seeing it but I feel like I’m more important to the series now, I’m more needed. Obviously, I’m going to have to step up. I’m gonna be ready for it.”

So what exactly does Rozier need to do to return to his valuable playoff roots? Let’s take a closer look at what differentiated his play in the last few postseasons and his path to that type of play against the Pacers.

Defense first

This is going to be the primary focus of Brad Stevens with his best defensive guard out of the lineup. There are few players on the Celtics roster that have the speed to stick with the Pacers quick guards, whether it’s Darren Collison or Cory Joseph, but Rozier is one of those guys. He’s been a disappointment for stretches at that end of the floor this year with his communication and awareness lapses but he has the ability to ramp up ball pressure and reduce the comfort level for opponents. Collison and Joseph aren’t known for their handles so it’s going to be on Rozier to provide smart pressure. Rozier has shown the ability in past years to get the best of certain mismatches on paper. Eric Bledsoe had a miserable outing against Rozier last year in the first round (43 percent shooting, 30 percent from 3).

“We need his defensive presence, so now — like last year we didn’t have Kyrie and Gordon’s offense and this year don’t have Marcus’s defense, so guys have got to step up and play that role,” Danny Ainge said Thursday.

While Brad Wanamaker may be a better natural distributor than Rozier at point guard, there’s no denying Rozier has far better speed to stick with offensive players. With Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward focused on containing and chasing shooters like Bogdanovic, Matthews and McDermott, Rozier is going to need to do his best to slow down the Pacers at the point of attack. The more rest the Celtics can give Irving in that area (so he can hide off the ball and focus his energy on scoring), the better off they will be on the offensive end.

Regular Season Numbers for Rozier



Postseason Numbers for Rozier



Sticking to catch-and-shoot 3s

While Rozier has the moves to be a shot creator, something he showed throughout the postseason last year, the personnel on this Celtics roster no longer makes that a necessity. Boston has far more efficient players than him at nearly every position when they try to make a move towards the rim. Whether it’s pull up 3s above the arc (32 percent) or long 2s (career-low 27.9 percent), bad things generally happen when Rozier pulls up off the dribble.

However, Rozier remains one of the better 3-point shooters on the roster when he simply catches and fires. He’s 37.1 percent from 3 on 2.7 attempts per game on these type of shots, putting him ahead of teammates like Hayward, Al Horford and Brown. The problem with Rozier’s game during this regular season was the fact that nearly half of his 3-point attempts were over the pull-up variety on a nightly basis. If he starts to get more disciplined with his shooting, morphing back into the player from two postseasons ago (low usage, high efficiency) that is going to be the combination the Celtics will be able to ride into the second round.



Start looking for teammates more

The Celtics offense floundered all year long when Rozier was running the ship at point guard with the second unit. Between his poor shot selection and his subpar vision, the scoring would crater at times, leaving the C’s vulnerable to big runs by the opposition. The guess here is that Brad Stevens is going to want to avoid the Rozier at point scenario as much as possible but it is bound to pop up a bit at times when Hayward is resting and Irving wants to spend sometime off the ball.

Rozier is not a natural point guard and does not have the greatest passing vision but he has shown the ability to find his teammates more on the bigger stage. His assist rate in last year’s playoffs was 10 points above his career average as he focused more on driving and kicking when blowing past his man into the paint. Far too often this regular season he has tried to play through contact and get shots up in traffic but that is not his strength. If he focuses on breaking down the defense for his teammates instead of himself, he can create far more success for the Celtics offense.



There has been a reason Stevens has stuck with Rozier all year long to the frustration of many Celtics fans. His play may have cost the Celtics some wins during the regular season but he clearly wanted to stick with the guy he knew could perform at a higher level in the postseason. Whether or not Rozier reverts to this type of play remains to be seen but his track record should give C’s fans some reason for hope here.

“I just think ultimately whoever is playing together needs to focus on what they’re jobs are, control what they can control, and that’s that,” Stevens said. “Nobody’s going to be Marcus Smart. We don’t expect anybody to be Marcus Smart. We didn’t expect anybody to be Kyrie Irving last year. They just have to do what they do best and focus on what we need to do.”

There are a number of things that Rozier can do well (3-point shooting, rebounding, not turning the ball over) and those skills are crucial in the playoff environment. The past 82 games should have been a humbling experience for the 24-year-old guard and it has cost him plenty of money so far. However, he has a bigger chance to undo some of that damage in the next few weeks and learn a lesson from a dismal regular season.

“It’s a whole new time now,” Rozier said. “I feel like I’m super ready, just letting go of everything that happened this whole season and just moving on, and I’ll be ready for it. I can’t wait until the playoffs start.”