CHICAGO — Former Celtics star Kevin Garnett sent a motivational voice text message to the team’s head athletic trainer, Ed Lacerte, on Thursday, emphatically urging the top-seeded team to snap out of the funk that had included consecutive home losses to the eighth-seeded Bulls.

Lacerte played the message for Avery Bradley, and Bradley played the message for Isaiah Thomas, and Thomas decided the entire team should hear it, so they played it before Game 3.

Garnett’s rowdy, expletive-filled motivational style is quite different from Celtics coach Brad Stevens’s approach, but Stevens, who heard the message on Thursday, appreciated it nonetheless.

“I didn’t listen to it while the guys listened to it, so I didn’t see their reaction,’’ he said. “But obviously everybody looks up to him and he had a great impact and continues to have a great impact as a former Celtic.’’

Stevens was asked if Garnett’s speech differed from the ones he typically gives. He smiled.

“Yeah.’’

Call on Rondo? Bulls guard Rajon Rondo is out indefinitely because of a broken thumb on his right hand. But in Game 3 on Friday night, it appeared he tried to make an impact on this series in a different way.

As Celtics forward Jae Crowder ran upcourt near Chicago’s bench, Rondo lifted his leg as if he was going to trip Crowder. He did not make contact, but the moment was caught on camera.

Rondo later explained that he was just trying to stretch his leg. Celtics forward Gerald Green, for one, was not going to be the one to dispute Rondo, his former Boston teammate.

“He may have had to stretch his leg out,’’ Green said. “I don’t know. I ain’t no snitch, so I don’t know. That’s not something I grew up being a part of. Where I’m from they know snitches get stitches. So I don’t know.’’

Zizic keeping tabs Celtics draft pick Ante Zizic had 17 points in Darussafaka Dogus’s Euroleague quarterfinal win over top-seeded Real Madrid on Friday. The Celtics selected Zizic with the 23rd overall pick of last June’s draft, and he is expected to be signed to a rookie deal by Boston on July 1. Zizic is keeping close tabs on his future team, too. On Friday night — or early Saturday morning in Europe — Zizic posted an Instagram picture of a television showing the Celtics’ Game 3 playoff matchup against the Bulls with the caption, “Let’s go.’’

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.