Rosen the big prize as Cardinals emphasize offense in draft
BOSTON — Terry Rozier and Eric Bledsoe spent seven games trash-talking through the media and pretending not to know each other’s names.
When it was over, they gave each other a quick hug — and a smile.
“Just respect,” Rozier said after scoring a career playoff high 26 points in Game 7 against Bledsoe’s Bucks on Saturday night to help the Celtics beat Milwaukee 112-96 and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second straight year.
“You’ve got two guys that want to win, two chippy guys, two short point guards,” Rozier said. “We were just out there having fun. If it takes for us to go back and forth, jawing back and forth to battle, push each other, that’s just part of the game. We talked after the game, no stuff.”
Rozier added nine assists, Al Horford had 26 points and eight rebounds, and even Giannis Antetokounmpo tipped in a basket for the Celtics, who will meet the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round.
Game 1 is in Boston on Monday night.
“We’re going to have to play great,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who was already without would-be starters Gordon Heyward and Kyrie Irving when Jaylen Brown left Saturday’s game with a hamstring injury. “That’s just another thing. Somebody else is going to have to step up and play great. But we’ll get ready.”
Khris Middleton scored 32, Bledsoe had 23 and Antetokounmpo had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks. Milwaukee has advanced from the first round of the playoffs just once since 1989, losing nine straight playoff series since Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell brought George Karl to the Eastern Conference finals in 2001.
Jayson Tatum added 20 points for the Celtics, who rode the home-court advantage to win all four games in Boston.
“Wasn’t able to win on the road, but we pushed the series to Game 7,” Antetokounmpo said. “A lot of the guys in the locker room have never been in Game 7s. It’s a new experience. Now we know now what it takes to win a Game 7. You’ve got to come out, hit first.”
Playing in their NBArecord 31st Game 7, the Celtics improved to 20-4 at home and 23-8 overall in best-of-seven clinchers. It was the second Game 7 at the TD Garden this week, with the Boston Bruins beating the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night to advance in the NHL playoffs.
“It’s more than you can imagine, just a great feeling,” Horford said. “Our fans really gave us that energy. This is why you work so hard in the regular season, to put yourself with home-court advantage.”
BLEDSOE AND BLEDSOE
When he was at Louisville, Rozier was compared to Bledsoe, who had left Kentucky a few years earlier. But the two did their best to work up a friendly hatred during the series.
It started when Rozier referred to his Bucks counterpart as “Drew Bledsoe” — confusing him with the former New England Patriots quarterback. Since then, Bledsoe has pretended he doesn’t know who Rozier is.
Celtics fans joined in by chanting “Who is Bledsoe!” in the first half. And during a fourth-quarter break, the scoreboard showed a video of Drew Bledsoe holding up one of his Patriots jerseys and proclaiming himself “the original Bledsoe.”
“Man, that was special,” Rozier said. “I don’t know who thought of that, but that was nice.”
FIRST HALF RUNS
Tatum had nine points in the first, when the Celtics scored 15 straight points — including a tip-in by Antetokounmpo into the Boston hoop — and 20 of the last 22 to end the quarter with a 30-17 lead. Milwaukee scored 11 in a row at the beginning of the second to make it a two-point game, but Boston answered with nine in a row to make it 4130.
The Celtics led 50-42 at the half despite going 1-for12 from 3-point range. Horford had 14 points and seven rebounds at the break, and Bledsoe had 12 points for the Bucks. But both Antetokounmpo and Bledsoe had three fouls at halftime.
Milwaukee cut the deficit to three points early in the third but Boston scored 11 of the last 15 points in the quarter. The Bucks never got within single digits in the fourth.
HAMMY TIME
Jaylen Brown limped off to the locker room late in the second quarter, then came out to test his sore right hamstring just before the start of the second half. But he left the floor and went back into the tunnel; after riding the stationary bike for a few minutes and getting checked out in the locker room, the team said he was available to return, but he did not.
“I was told that if we got in a pinch he could play,” Stevens said. “I decided that’s not going to happen. With hamstrings — let’s see how he feels tomorrow.”
Brown said it was diagnosed as a Grade 1 sprain. He will have an MRI tomorrow.
“Whatever it takes. I wouldn’t miss this series for the world,” he said, vowing to be back for Game 1. “That’s my goal.”
TIP-INS
Bucks: Have an 0-18 record in playoff series in which they’ve lost the first two games. They are 2-8 in Game 7s . ... Bledsoe picked up a technical foul in the first quarter after complaining about a foul call. ... C John Henson missed his fifth straight game with a sore back . ... Scored zero points on fast breaks.
TEMPE — The Arizona Cardinals’ 2018 draft made its reputation on Day 1 with the selection of a player who the team hopes will become the long-sought franchise quarterback of years to come.
If the Cardinals got no one in this draft besides Josh Rosen, fans would have called it a rousing success.
And offense turned out to be the theme. Only one of the six players drafted by the Cardinals plays defense, even though their new coach Steve Wilks was defensive coordinator last year at Carolina.
The choices were simply a function of the names on the Arizona draft board, general manager Steve Keim said.
“In a perfect world, coach and I would have been thrilled to have balance and to fill some positions defensively if those guys warranted those picks,” Keim said. “But we had such high grades on those offensive players, we didn’t want to stray away from the board.”
In the second round, Arizona went with homegrown wide receiver Christian Kirk from Texas A&M in the second round.
The Cardinals picked center Mason Cole out of Michigan in the third round and, with their first choice Saturday dipped into the FCS ranks to grab running back Chase Edmonds of Fordham.
It marked only the second time in the draft’s modern era (which began in 1967) that the Cardinals have used their first four picks on the offense. The other was in 1993.
Finally, in the sixth round, Arizona went defense, grabbing cornerback Chris Campbell of Penn State. The Cardinals’ final pick came third to last in the seventh and final round when they selected offensive tackle Korey Cunningham of Cincinnati.
But this draft was, first and foremost, about that long-awaited young quarterback for Arizona.
When Carson Palmer retired at the end of last season, there were no QBs on the roster. Now they have Sam Bradford, Mike Glennon and Rosen, who will begin his new job in earnest at the rookie minicamp in two weeks.
HOME SWEET HOME
No Arizona draftee could have been happier than Kirk, who grew up in the Phoenix area, starring at Saguaro High in Scottsdale before choosing Texas A&M over staying home at Arizona State. Now he’s coming home and keeps describing the situation as “surreal.”
Kirk said he got to know star receiver Larry Fitzgerald when he played on the same Pop Warner team as Kurt Warner’s son. Warner would sometimes bring Fitzgerald along to games and they struck up a friendship.
“I think I was probably in the fourth grade at the time, third or fourth grade, and every time they came out, it was just so crazy,” Kirk said.
Kirk will use his old No. 13. That was the Hall of Famer Warner’s number, too.
“Exactly, I have to rock it well,” Kirk said. “I have a lot to live up to.”
CHARACTER
Keim said that as he evolves through his fifth year on the job, he’s paying more attention than ever to off-the-field character and the player’s love of the game as he assesses who should be selected. He noted all but Campbell in this year’s class were team captains.
The idea was to go with “strong character guys” that match what Wilks calls his team’s DNA.
“I’ve almost promised myself that we would take guys, even if they’re a little less talented, but they have that makeup,” Keim said. “... Especially in our first draft together, we wanted to make a statement.”
Almost every year, the Cardinals dip into the talent at the FCS level, or lower.
This year it was Edmonds, the all-time leading rusher in the Patriot League for yards and touchdowns who could be in a crowded competition for a backup spot behind 2016 All-Pro David Johnson, as well as a kick and punt returner.
“I’m just looking forward to whatever role Arizona asks me,” he said. “Whether it’s being a special teams player, being a third-down back, on the slot, something like that. I’m looking forward to it.”
Keim called Edmonds’ production “off the charts” and said he would have set the FCS career rushing record had he not been injured during his senior season.
Some prior Arizona draftees from the FCS ranks or lower include Johnson, taken in the third round out of Northern Iowa in 2015; wide receiver John Brown, selected in third round out of Pittsburg State (Kan.) in 2014; and cornerback/special teams player Justin Bethel, picked in the sixth round out of Presbyterian in 2012.
Oh, and quarterback John Skelton out of Fordham in the fifth round in 2010. He’s no longer around.
STILL NEED
Look for defensive players to be signed as undrafted free agents, as well as maybe some late veteran signings. Arizona still needs to find a cornerback to play opposite Patrick Peterson and is looking for depth at linebacker as the team transitions from a 3-4 base formation to a 4-3. The Cardinals also could use some depth at tight end.