Avery Bradley says Kevin Garnett helped pump up Celtics before Game 3

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Kevin Garnett didn't need to be in the Boston Celtics' locker room to provide inspiration.

His words pumped up the Celtics before Game 3, Avery Bradley explained. Garnett left a message on trainer Ed Lacerte's voicemail, which Isaiah Thomas played on his portable speakers, according to Yahoo.com's Chris Mannix.

"Isaiah played a clip from KG before the game, and it kind of got us going a little bit," Bradley told ESPN on the sideline Friday after the Celtics' 104-87 win over the Chicago Bulls Friday. "KG said some inspirational words for us, and it reminded us -- Celtics, we're always supposed to be the hardest playing team every single night. And we're supposed to use Isaiah's family -- use that as inspiration and come out and play hard for him and his family. And that's what we did tonight."

Garnett may not have been pleased with the Celtics' rebounding. Again, they got crushed on the boards in Game 3 with 37 rebounds compared to the Bulls' 52.

But after the Celtics struggled to support Thomas on offense for the first two games, a gang of Celtics pitched in during Game 3 in a well-rounded scoring effort. Thomas, whose sister died in a car crash last weekend, finished the game with 16 points, nine assists, two rebounds and a steal. Bradley added 15 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Al Horford had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Jae Crowder had 16 points and six rebounds. Even Terry Rozier had double digit points with 11, aided by his three 3-pointers.

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