Milwaukee dispatched Boston 131-125 on Tuesday, but the Bucks were much more in danger of losing to the Celtics than the score indicates. Celtics sharpshooter Sam Hauser was a big reason why.

With no Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford, the clash of East titans looked slated to be severely one-sided on paper. But guys like Hauser, Malcolm Brogdon, and Eastern Conference Player of the Week Derrick White stepped up for the visitors, who led for most of the contest and managed to force OT thanks to the Wisconsin product's clutch triple:

Many wondered in hindsight if the Bucks were better off fouling Sam Hauser to prevent a game-tying triple while up three. Coach Mike Budenholzer addressed the decision, stating that it's nearly always situational and that this time around the team was banking on being able to force a stop, via The Athletic's Eric Nehm:

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“We do different things end of game,” Mike Budenholzer said on Sam Hauser's shot. “The catch-and-shoot coming out of that is probably what they're looking for and we defended everything well, defended all the screens prior. He gets it out at halfcourt and hits a 30-footer or whatever it was. There's different things that we'll do. Credit to Hauser for making the shot. Khris did exactly what we asked him to do. Just fortunate to find a way to win it in overtime.”

With no Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, it wasn't the worst decision in the world to force one of the Celtics' role players to create a play against a stout Bucks defense. It was simply better offense on a very well-contested shot, one Coach Bud and the Bucks would likely live with nine times out of ten.