BRIGHTON — The Boston Celtics are going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment. They are 1-3 in their last four games and now closer to the three seed in the East than the one seed. Still, they have all the talent to compete for a championship, and outside of a few nicks and bruises, have been relatively healthy. But Sam Hauser has been the exception.
Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday have been on the injury report quite a bit, too, but Hauser’s issue has seemingly lingered. Early in the season, he revealed that he’s been dealing with some back problems, and they have carried on throughout the year.
And it hasn’t been fun.
Sam Hauser's back injury has taken a toll
After Celtics shootaround on Friday, Hauser spoke about the difficulties of the injury.
“It sucks,” said Hauser. “Obviously, getting hurt's never fun, but just trying to do everything I can not to let it happen again.”
In addition, Hauser spoke about the toll its taken mentally, in turn, affecting his play on the hardwood.
“It's been a little frustrating,” Hauser said. “Kind of just in and out. Playing, not playing. Trying to find a rhythm. And that's tough sometimes. But just working through it.”
Whether or not the injury is the root of the problem is another thing, but Hauser certainly hasn’t been the same player this season that he was last season. His numbers are down fairly significantly.
Last year, Hauser averaged 9.0 points while shooting 44.6% from the field and 42.4% from beyond the arc. This season, he’s averaging 7.9 points while shooting 43.4% from the field and 37.0% from distance.
On top of that, though the Celtics are attempting more threes per game than any team in NBA history, Hauser’s deep-range attempts per game are down. It’s just by a bit, going from 5.9 per game last year to 5.4 per game this year, but still. Considering how many more the Celtics are taking, seeing his number decline at all is a bit odd.
Hauser was one of the best three-point shooters in the league last year, but that simply hasn’t been the case this season. At times, it feels as though he’s not even getting the chance to shoot when he’s on the floor.
His shooting is a key cog in the machine that is the Celtics, and it seems as though his back injury has been holding him back.