It wasn’t straightforward for Boston Celtics sharpshooter Sam Hauser to search out his scorching hand amid a neck-and-neck battle with the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night time, however teammates ensured that whatever the field rating, the photographs wouldn’t cease flying.
Hauser entered the fourth quarter taking pictures simply 1-of-5 from 3-point vary — Hauser’s bread and butter — and he the 26-year-old grew to become consumed with the frustration of watching high quality appears to be like turn into wasted scoring alternatives. Taking discover of Hauser’s feelings and physique language, Celtics veteran chief Al Horford felt the necessity to guarantee Hauser that the workforce nonetheless wanted him to fireplace away from three — by shouting at him.
“If Sam’s open, if he’s not open, we at all times need him to be a risk,” Jayson Tatum stated after Boston’s 108-104 win over the Nets, per NBC Sports activities Boston’s postgame protection. “Not essentially like, shoot it each time however now we have a lot confidence in Sam that we had been 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 at all times imagine that the subsequent one goes in as a result of he’s such a confirmed shooter. He works actually onerous at his craft.”
It took one other 4 misses from Hauser earlier than the profession 41.8% outdoors shooter related from past the arc, doing so efficiently off an help from Tatum to place the Celtics forward of the Nets, 92-91, with 2:06 remaining in regulation. Hauser completed scoring eight factors on 3-of-11 taking pictures from the sector (2-of-10 from three) with 4 rebounds, three assists and three steals in 35 minutes off the bench.
Boston awarded Hauser a four-year, $45 million extension this previous offseason, recognizing the undrafted Virginia product’s worth off the bench. Hauser shot 44.4% on 3-pointers final season, which ranked fourth amongst gamers with 400-plus makes an attempt and related on 179 catch-and-shoot threes, which ranked sixth-most within the NBA — whereas additionally averaging a career-high 9 factors and three.5 rebounds in 22 minutes an evening.
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With a purpose to keep their elite degree of play early, everybody in Boston’s locker room understands Hauser’s shot-making potential will stay a key element.
“I believe that the sport modified for us when Payton (Pritchard) and Neemi (Queta) and Sam and people guys got here in,” Horford advised reporters, per NBC Sports activities Boston. “They simply introduced us good power that the sport began to shift our method and that’s how we had been in a position to — I really feel like — get again into the sport.”
Horford added: “We all know the kind of shooters that now we have. We work at this daily and people are photographs that now we have to take. We had lots of beauty and also you simply must take them and belief in your course of.”
Hauser entered Friday night time taking pictures 11-of-33 (33.3%) from three by way of his first six video games logged.
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