Rozier on Game 3 blowout: 'We needed to get our butts whooped'
A 30-point loss in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night was apparently the wake-up call the Boston Celtics needed.
"We needed to get our butts whooped," said point guard Terry Rozier following Boston's 116-86 defeat at Quicken Loans Arena, according to ESPN's Chris Forsberg. "Come back to reality. Take care of business on Monday."
The Celtics entered Game 3 with all of the momentum in the world, defeating Cleveland by an average of 19 points across two games at the TD Garden. The tale of their postseason run, however, has been their inability to emerge victorious on the road, with their record now dropping to 1-5 away from Boston compared to a flawless 9-0 at home.
Rozier contributed 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting across his 28 minutes of action Saturday, adding three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. The Celtics were still outscored by 20 points with him on the floor, which was actually good enough for the second-best plus-minus rating of any starter.
Rozier Playoff Numbers (Home vs. Away)
| Location | PPG | FG% | 3P% | AST | TOV | Plus-Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 20 | 46.2 | 45.5 | 5.8 | 1.1 | 9.4 |
| Road | 12.8 | 35.1 | 24.4 | 4.8 | 1.7 | -8.8 |
(courtesy: NBA Stats)
Game 4 of the best-of-seven series goes down on Monday night, and Rozier knows his team can't afford to put forth a similar effort.
"We'll look over the film, go back and see all of the mistakes we made, how can we correct them for Monday," added Rozier, according to Mass Live. "We know it's not going to be easy Monday either, but we've got to come out and play better.
"I feel like we needed this, to get us back, to get us ready for Monday."