Sam Hauser still made some NBA history from downtown despite leaving Celtics blowout win with injury
BOSTON -- A third-quarter ankle injury is all that kept Sam Hauser from making some Celtics history on Sunday night. But Boston's sharpshooter still made some NBA history thanks to his flurry of threes in a short amount of playing time.
Hauser was locked in from downtown throughout his 22 minutes during the team's blowout win over the Wizards in Washington D.C., draining 10 three-pointers en route to the first 30-point night of his career.
With Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Kristaps Porzingis all out, the Celtics were lacking some serious firepower from behind the arc. But Hauser, making his eighth start of the season, made sure Boston didn't miss a beat against the worst team in the NBA.
The expert marksman came out scorching in the first half, hitting seven of his nine three-point attempts. That tied a Boston franchise record for the most three-pointers in a half, and put Hauser on pace to best Marcus Smart's Celtics record for most threes in a game.
Overall, the Celtics canned 17 triples in the first half to set a new franchise record for any half.
Hauser wasted no time getting back into rhythm in the second half, hitting another three just 30 seconds in. He added two more over the next few minutes, but his evening ended after just 4:17 of action in the second half when Hauser stepped on someone's foot near the Washington bench.
Hauser made his way back to the Boston locker room and did not return to action. The injury robbed him a shot at etching his name in the Boston record books.
Finishing with 10 makes from three-point land, Hauser came up just one shy of Smart's franchise record of 11. But there is a silver lining in his flurry of threes: Hauser's 10 made threes in just 22 minutes and 49 seconds did set an NBA record for the fewest minutes played with 10 or more three-pointers.
Hauser finished his evening an impressive 10-for-13 overall from downtown, matching Washington's 10 makes from distance. His hot hand helped the Celtics cruise to a 130-104 victory, the team's fifth-straight win.
