Over the last few playoff runs, I felt the Celtics were missing a true knockdown shooter. I felt the Celtics needed a shooter like Khris Middleton, Duncan Robinson, or Max Strus to impose fear in the opponents while giving more space for the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Enter Sam Hauser.
Going undrafted in the 2021 draft, Hauser decided to choose Boston over the likes of the Heat and was signed to a two-way deal. Hauser spent time in Maine developing his game while also being with the Celtics throughout the year. When called up to Boston, Hauser played sparingly in his rookie season, featuring in 26 games for an average of 6.1 minutes. It was a season of development and in 2022-23, Hauser started to see more playing time averaging 16 minutes and scoring 6.4 points on 45.5% shooting and 41.8% from deep.
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Photo by Grace Beal/NBAE via Getty Images
The real jump in Hauser’s game came this season and it started on the defensive end. All season long, the Celtics credited guys like Sam for his defense. Early in the year, and even in the Finals, the opponents tried to isolate Hauser and play iso ball. To their detriment, Sam could hold his own unlike guys like Duncan Robinson and Max Strus. In addition to his spot-up shooting, it’s Hauser’s defense that earned him the 22 minutes a game he saw this season.
During the playoffs, Jrue Holiday said, “Even our white guys guard.”
The Celtics, who were one of the best defenses in the league all season, thrived on not having to hide defenders in the halfcourt. In the past, Boston had to protect guys like Isaiah Thomas and Kyrie Irving. This year, whoever was on the court, the team had the utmost confidence in their ability to get a stop if they found themselves on an island.
In the Finals, whenever Hauser was on the floor, the Mavs would try to isolate him with Luka Doncic or Kyrie. However, Sam with his 6’7 frame is long enough and quick enough to make any shot a tough one.
There are times when Hauser would get beat, but his defense was solid enough all season that he never became a liability on the floor.
His strength is clear: his three point shooting. After a rough series against the Indiana Pacers where Hauser scored seven points and went 1-for-14 from three, Hauser was going to need to flush that performance away and get zeroed in on the Finals.
Luckily for Celtics fans, he did. Hauser became the reliable three-point shooter we saw all season shooting 47.8% from beyond the arc. Other than Game 2 when Hauser went 0-5 from deep, he was locked in and gave the spacing that the team needed while being a threat.
Hauser made his impact straight away hitting threes to get the crowd into the game early and finishing Game 5 with 8 points on 3-of-7 shooting. And again, he kept Doncic in front of him when Dallas tried to isolate him.
After the game, NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin spoke to Sam Hauser:
“It was pretty special. To do it on our home floor in front of our fans, with all of the banners hanging up, now we get to put our own up,” Hauser said. “It’s pretty special to do it at home. It’s so surreal right now… It hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Now an NBA champion, Hauser is a prime example of someone who was known as a scorer in college who worked on his game to be an elite shooter and a solid NBA defender.
