Inside the return of Terry Rozier: Defensive weapon

The Celtics did what they were supposed to do in a first-round sweep of the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, making themselves the first team to secure a spot in the Conference Semifinals. It’s hard to take too much away from a series when a team was, talent-wise, arguably the worst among the 16 that had qualified in the postseason, but there were some pretty big questions the Celtics still were seeking out in Round 1, particularly when it comes to filling the void that Marcus Smart left after going down with a torn oblique.

Before Smart's injury, Terry Rozier looked like a player who was on the verge of being the odd man out in a tightened playoff rotation following an underwhelming regular season. Brad Stevens stuck with Rozier all season despite the Celtics' offense and defense suffering when he was on the floor. His questionable shot selection and struggles finishing around the rim weighed down the offense when he was on the court and a former strength (his defense) did not translate in year four as Boston’s defense was better all year when he was on the bench.

Yet, when Smart went down, there was no question about what Rozier’s role would be in this series. He would get set minutes as the first guard off the bench and those would be his to lose. Despite his regular season struggles, he had the playoff track record and athleticism advantage over a guy like Brad Wanamaker, making him the clear cut preference of the coaching staff. That group stuck with him all year to keep his confidence up for a situation like this.

Despite a strong Game 4 (11 points on 4-of-6 shooting), Rozier did not exactly impress on offense against the Pacers. He shot just 33 percent from 3-point range and turned the ball over far more than usual (two per game), an issue that popped up team-wide against the Pacers pressure defense. The good news was that nearly all of Rozier’s shots were 3-pointers (15 of 24), which meant he was primarily operating on the floor from an area of strength. That and an improvement in his assist rate were positive steps forward, although the C’s offense struggled (98.7 offensive rating) when he was on the court.

Those scoring struggles did not matter as much, though, because of what Rozier was contributing to on the defensive end of the floor against Indy. In his 75 minutes of action, the Celtics were a defensive juggernaut, holding Indiana to just 84.3 points per 100 possessions. That mark gives Rozier the lowest defensive rating out of any player in the postseason and a 20 point improvement from his defensive rating mark in the regular season.

“He’s a guard that can come in and defend at an elite level,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan told reporters Sunday. “Rozier’s a guy who’s capable of initiating the offense as well as setting the tone defensively on the second unit. So, solid guard, tough-minded. I like the way he plays.”

Rozier used to be known for this type of play. During last year’s 16-game winning streak at the start of the regular season, Rozier and Marcus Smart captained a second unit that struggled to manufacture offense every night but still outscored opponents in their stints with elite defense. Rozier isn’t nearly the defender that Smart is but when he’s fully engaged, he can play great pressure defense, stick with anyone thanks to his speed and rebounds tremendously for a guard. All of those attributes were on display against the Pacers as the Indiana floor generals (Cory Joseph, Darren Collison, Aaron Holiday) never seemed to get much going against him. The Pacers' shot numbers, when matched up against Rozier, indicate just how effective the 24-year-old guard was. After a rough Game 1 on both ends, he really tightened up on D.

Game 1: 4-of-9
Game 2: 3-of-10
Game 3: 2-of-5
Game 4: 1-of-7

Series: 10-of-31 (32.2 percent)

There is no doubt the Celtics' coaching staff and Danny Ainge still had faith that this type of play was still in Rozier, even though they hadn’t seen it all year. Why he was unable to lock it until now (Smart’s injury, putting aside individual goals for the postseason) doesn’t really matter. The fact that he is still capable of making this type of impact is the bigger story for Boston.

"I’m really happy for him,” Stevens said after Game 4. “I don’t think he ever eclipsed 22 minutes or 23 minutes in the series ever but every minute he played felt impactful and we all know what he can do when he’s given more opportunity. For him to just stay the course all year and be ready for this time of year to make a big difference, kudos to him.”

The trickle-down impact of Rozier’s strong defense could be seen all across the roster as well as the Pacers series progressed. His net rating for the series (+14.4) was second behind Horford thanks to superb defensive efforts. That allowed Stevens to stick with him for more minutes in Games 2-4 and not have to overly rely on Kyrie Irving (a manageable 37 minutes per game) during the four-game sweep. Stevens also played Rozier more as the series progressed in order to give the C’s an extra ballhandler on the floor next to Irving as much as possible, particularly when Gordon Hayward was also resting.

“He’s just coming in and just being very mature about what he’s doing with his minutes," Irving said. "Picking up the basketball, being very communicative on middle pick-and-rolls, being in the right spots, and then more importantly just taking his shots when they’re coming to him, in rhythm, knocking down big, timely shots, when bigs are switching on him making great decisions, and just doing what it takes to win a tough ballgame.”

The degree of difficulty is obviously going to skyrocket in Round 2 for Rozier and the Celtics. Milwaukee not only has better guards (Eric Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon (if healthy) George Hill, Pat Connaughton, Sterling Brown) than Indiana, but they have far more dangerous weapons at other positions. Khris Middleton feasted on shooting over Rozier last year during isolation switches and the same will likely occur this year.

The Celtics won’t need to rely on Rozier for 35 minutes a night against the Bucks this postseason, however. Cutting that total in half should allow Rozier to play to his strengths more on the defensive end. As long as he doesn’t try to overreach with his offense (i.e. no bad 2s), Rozier has the defensive chops to help keep Bledsoe and Hill in check and that will be crucial to slowing down the Bucks firepower.

Without Smart, the Celtics had something to prove on defense and Rozier helped them do just that in Round 1. Whether or not he can duplicate it against Milwaukee will help answer whether this postseason run continues.