It would be hard to watch a Boston Celtics playoff game and not notice how Terry Rozier has impacted the series. The Celtics’ new starting point guard — who got the job after Kyrie Irving was lost for the season — has looked a lot like a playoff regular to date.

He had 23 points in last night’s 120-106 Game 2 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks, staking Boston to a 2-0 series edge. That came after a 23-point performance in Game 1 and, by and large, he has outplayed his Bucks counterpart, Eric Bledsoe. The Milwaukee guard has struggled in the series, averaging 10.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg and four assists per game (and three turnovers per game). By comparison, Rozier is at 23 ppg, 3.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg and zero turnovers per game.

After last night’s loss, Bledsoe claimed to not know who Rozier is. That stance that may have come from Rozier casually referring to Bledsoe as “Drew Bledsoe” — the former New England Patriots quarterback. Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has more on what Bledsoe wasn’t talking about:

“Who?” Bledsoe responded when asked about Rozier’s strong start to the series and if he takes that matchup personally.

“I don’t even know who the (expletive) that is.”

…

Following Game 1, Rozier — who played college hoops at Louisville, the rival of Bledsoe’s Kentucky squad — casually referred to Bledsoe as “Drew Bledsoe,” the former NFL player. Whether that faux pas was intentional or a slip of the tongue isn’t clear, but it’s possible it influenced Bledsoe’s choice of commentary Tuesday night.

“They’re very tall and athletic, so just move the ball offensively and get great shots,” Rozier said Sunday evening. “Defensively, just play long, show your arms. Giannis, he loves to push the ball. Drew Bledsoe makes tough shots and we just try to limit them to what they’re good at by just being long off the ball and showing our presence and I felt like we did a great job with that the majority of the game.”

Asked for his response to Bledsoe’s comment Tuesday night, Rozier had this response for Yahoo! Sports reporter Ben Rohrbach:

“I’m concentrated on the Milwaukee Bucks-Boston Celtics matchup. If he don’t know who I am, it’s all good. … I don’t even think it’s funny. He might be talking out of spite or something.”

The Celtics will visit the Bucks for Game 3 of the series on Friday night (9:30 ET, ESPN).

* * *