Sam Hauser chose the perfect time in his career to find his best shooting rhythm. The Celtics' third-year second-unit wing is just starting to heat up from beyond the arc as the Celtics' regular season comes to a close, and he did it again Monday night in Charlotte.
Hauser came off the bench to score 25 points in 24 minutes, going 7-of-11 from deep, and Boston ended a six-game road trip with a 118-104 win over the Hornets.
This is the third time in the past seven games that Hauser has made at least seven 3-pointers. No one else on the team has had more than one such game over a full season.
It was also the fourth time in the past 10 games that Hauser has made at least six 3-pointers. In each game, he not only took a ton of shots, but he was also shooting at a high clip. He went 6-of-10 from the field in Portland on March 11th, a career-best 10-of-13 from Washington on March 17th, and 7-of-8 from Chicago on March 23rd. Success, and he made 7 of 11 on Monday night. Charlotte.
Did you find another interesting trend in each game? They all happened on the road. Therefore, a hostile environment clearly does not affect Hauser's flow. And so was the fact that he sprained his ankle midway through those four outings. He returned after missing two games (his only two-game absence this season) and picked up where he left off.
One of the most impressive aspects of his shooting is how he makes a ton of catch-and-shoot buckets on the move. There was one particularly noteworthy make he made early in the fourth quarter. After sprinting down his court, he caught a baseline-bound pass from Peyton Pritchard, stopped at just a dime, turned, and knocked down the shot as it faded. limit.
“If I can put my foot down and explode, I think I have a good chance of getting in,” Hauser said.
He made it look easy, he made it look easy, but there was nothing easy about that shot.
So is House doing that? Head coach Joe Mazzula said Sam has recently reached a new level of confidence and his teammates know how to utilize him.
“I think our offensive depth is what will unlock him, and our players understand that he is a weapon in many ways,” the head coach explained. “When you get to the second and third tier of the offense, especially when the team is defending a certain way, it really unlocks a player like Sam.”
Unleashing a weapon like that now that the regular season is coming to a close should have the rest of the league worrying come playoff time. The Celtics are already bursting with star power, and having a player coming off the bench who can consistently make several threes every game will be a valuable asset in the postseason.
