Rozier: Celtics would 'be a better matchup' for Warriors

The Boston Celtics overachieved without All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in the postseason. But had they accomplished the unlikely and stolen the Eastern Conference crown from LeBron James and the Cavaliers, guard Terry Rozier believes they'd be better equipped to handle the Golden State Warriors than Cleveland has thus far in the NBA Finals.

"I'm not taking nothing away from the Cavs, but we got a lot of guys that can switch off the ball and stuff like that," Rozier said on ESPN's "First Take" on Tuesday. "Our communication is key for us and that’s something we valued all year. I feel like we'd be a better matchup for them."

Boston led Cleveland 3-2 in the Eastern Conference finals before dropping consecutive games. The pesky Celtics were able to shut down nearly everyone but James, allowing just one other Cavalier (Kevin Love) to average double figures in the series.

Cleveland is down 0-2 to Golden State and has averaged 123 points allowed in the Finals as the series heads to Ohio. The Celtics boasted the top-ranked defense in the NBA during the regular season, so perhaps "Scary Terry" isn't wrong in his assessment that they'd put more of a scare into Golden State's shot at repeating.