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The Boston Celtics responded to falling in an 0-2 series deficit against the New York Knicks by handing them a blowout 115-96 defeat on Saturday afternoon in Game 3. That has set the stage for an extremely important Game 4, and ahead of the action, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla provided an eye-opening injury update on Sam Hauser.
The Celtics lost Hauser in Game 1 when he appeared to twist his ankle, and he ended up missing Games 2 and 3 after initially being listed as doubtful for both contests. However, Mazzulla revealed on Sunday afternoon that Hauser's ankle injury is doing “better,” seemingly opening the door for him to have a shot at returning to the court for Game 4.
“Sam Hauser remains day-to-day. Doing better than he was yesterday, Joe said,” Bobby Manning of CLNS said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
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Joe Mazzulla, Celtics hoping for Sam Hauser boost during Knicks series
Hauser certainly isn't the most important player on the Celtics, but he's a key part of their playoff rotation who hits threes at a high clip and can play solid defense. To this point, though, Hauser hasn't made much of an impact in the postseason, as he's averaging just 2.7 points per game in the six contests he's played in, although it is worth noting that is largely due to the Orlando Magic's defensive gameplan during their first-round series, as they set out to limit Boston's secondary scorers.
While Boston knocked down 50% of their three-point shots in Game 3, they hit just 25 of their 100 shot attempts from behind the arc in Games 1 and 2, and it was clear they could have used a steadying sharpshooter like Hauser, who just hit 41.6% of his threes this season, on the floor. His status still appears to be up in the air for the time being, but it looks like Hauser has a shot at returning to action after missing the C's past two games.
