Few have been hotter from beyond the 3-point line than Sam Hauser was Sunday night against the Washington Wizards.
The Boston Celtics sharpshooter drilled seven 3-pointers in the first half of the dominant 130-104 win. That tied Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Kemba Walker for the most 3s by a Celtic in a half.
Hauser wasn't done there. He made three quick shots from deep in the third quarter to become the third player in Celtics history to hit at least 10 3s in a game, joining Brown (10) and the franchise record-holder Marcus Smart (11). There's little doubt he would have broken Smart's record had he not sustained a sprained left ankle on his 13th 3-point attempt of the night.
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Unfortunately, the injury forced Hauser to miss the remainder of the game. He finished with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-13 shooting from 3 in just under 23 minutes.
C's guard Payton Pritchard paid Hauser a huge compliment after the victory.
"I tell people all the time, in my opinion, Sam is one of the top shooters in the league," Pritchard told our Abby Chin. "So for us it's like, any time he's open, we've got to find him because it's almost automatic."
Pritchard played a key role in Boston's win, scoring 14 points and dishing 13 assists off the bench.
Hauser's historic performance also earned him high praise from veteran big man Al Horford.
"Pretty impressive, pretty impressive," Horford said. "The most impressive to me was that everything was within the flow of the offense. It wasn't like he was hunting the shots or anything like that. We just played our game and guys were mindful when he was there to get him the ball, but it was just playing. So it was pretty impressive to see him.
"I mean, I was hoping he was going to go for 15, break the Celtics record but also break the league record. He just had such good rhythm. So it was pretty cool to see."
Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson set the NBA single-game record with 14 3-point makes in 2018. The Milwaukee Bucks set the record for most 3s in a game with 29 in 2020.
Horford and the C's did their part to give Hauser a shot at Smart and Thompson's records.
"We knew he had seven at halftime, so we definitely wanted to make sure that we just kept him involved in the offense," Horford added. "When you've got it going like that, when you're that hot shooting, you want to keep it going. So JT (Jayson Tatum) and Jrue (Holiday) were very conscious of trying to find him."
Hauser's performance will be one to remember but for now, the number one concern is his health. C's head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters after the game that Hauser underwent precautionary X-rays. The severity of his injury is currently unclear, but there's a good chance he'll miss Monday night's game back at TD Garden against the lowly Detroit Pistons.
Monday's C's-Pistons matchup will feature an all-female broadcast team on NBC Sports Boston to celebrate Women's Empowerment Month. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with coverage starting at 7 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live.
