BOSTON (AP) – Sam Hauser started in place of Jayson Tatum and did what he and the Boston Celtics have done all season – shoot a bunch of 3-pointers and make more than their share.
Hauser made a season-high 9 3s, part of a career-best 33-point night in the Celtics’ 114-108 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday. He joined teammates Tatum, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard in having a game with nine 3s or more – the first time four teammates have done that in an NBA season.
Perhaps it was inevitable for a team that shoots an NBA-most 47.5 3s per game and makes 17.7. The Celtics are the only team to attempt more 3-pointers than 2-pointers.
They outdid those averages by making 18 of 53 on Monday night, led by Hauser, who went 9 of 19. Boston was 22 of 40 inside the arc.
“No idea, no idea, but that´s cool,” Hauser said when asked if was aware of he and his teammates’ accomplishment.
Four days earlier, Pritchard made 10 3s in Boston´s 123-105 win over Philadelphia. The day before that, White made nine 3s in a win over Portland. Tatum, who sat out Monday night to manage a right knee issue, made nine 3s against Chicago in December.
Hauser also became the 20th NBA player to make at least seven 3s in a quarter, doing it in the third against the Jazz.
“Running in transition and trying to find a window, these guys were looking for me. I was just trying to make that decision pay off,” Hauser said. “Sometimes when you get in a flow, every shot you take feels like it´s going in.”
Three is more than two – and the Celtics live by that axiom, winning the NBA title last season and sitting comfortably in second place in the Eastern Conference as they seek a repeat.
“It wasn´t like we were going out of our way to get him the ball. He has an innate ability to find the ball and create advantages,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “The guys did a great job of finding him once he got hot. There´s no shot that he shoots that we think is a bad shot.”
