It wasn’t easy for Boston Celtics sharpshooter Sam Hauser to find his hot hand amid a neck-and-neck battle with the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, but teammates ensured that regardless of the box score, the shots wouldn’t stop flying.
Hauser entered the fourth quarter shooting just 1-of-5 from 3-point range — Hauser’s bread and butter — and he the 26-year-old became consumed with the frustration of watching quality looks become wasted scoring opportunities. Taking notice of Hauser’s emotions and body language, Celtics veteran leader Al Horford felt the need to assure Hauser that the team still needed him to fire away from three — by shouting at him.
“If Sam’s open, if he’s not open, we always want him to be a threat,” Jayson Tatum said after Boston’s 108-104 win over the Nets, per NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “Not necessarily like, shoot it every time but we have so much confidence in Sam that we were mad at him when he missed it and he was mad at himself. Al was yelling at him on the bench like, ‘Don’t ever put your head down.’ We always believe that the next one is going in because he’s such a proven shooter. He works really hard at his craft.”
It took another four misses from Hauser before the career 41.8% outside shooter connected from beyond the arc, doing so successfully off an assist from Tatum to put the Celtics ahead of the Nets, 92-91, with 2:06 remaining in regulation. Hauser finished scoring eight points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field (2-of-10 from three) with four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 35 minutes off the bench.
Boston awarded Hauser a four-year, $45 million extension this past offseason, recognizing the undrafted Virginia product’s value off the bench. Hauser shot 44.4% on 3-pointers last season, which ranked fourth among players with 400-plus attempts and connected on 179 catch-and-shoot threes, which ranked sixth-most in the NBA — while also averaging a career-high nine points and 3.5 rebounds in 22 minutes a night.
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In order to maintain their elite level of play early, everyone in Boston’s locker room understands Hauser’s shot-making ability will remain a key component.
“I think that the game changed for us when Payton (Pritchard) and Neemi (Queta) and Sam and those guys came in,” Horford told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “They just brought us good energy that the game started to shift our way and that’s how we were able to — I feel like — get back into the game.”
Horford added: “We know the type of shooters that we have. We work at this every day and those are shots that we have to take. We had a lot of good looks and you just have to take them and trust in your process.”
Hauser entered Friday night shooting 11-of-33 (33.3%) from three through his first six games logged.
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Featured image via Bob DeChiara/Imagn Images
