New injury update on Sam Hauser is better report than last time

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics have been dealing with a few minor injuries this season. Obviously, the Kristaps Porzingis situation is anything but minor (he’ll likely be back on the court around December after having offseason surgery), but outside of that, the issues they’ve had to overcome haven’t been to severe.

But while the Celtics haven’t been cursed with any long-term injuries, their squad has had to navigate a bunch of nicks and bruises. Jaylen Brown had hip problems, Jayson Tatum briefly sprained his ankle, and even Jrue Holiday had some knee troubles. Then, there’s Sam Hauser, whose injury has been lingering more than most others.

Earlier in the season, Hauser revealed that he’s been dealing with back problems since the summer and that they had carried over into the regular season.

Sam Hauser is feeling better

He missed a few games near the beginning of the year because of the ailment, but otherwise, he’s been playing through it. And after Celtics practice on Monday, he provided a small update on how he’s been doing.

“I've been feeling pretty good as of late,” Hauser said. “Obviously, there's stuff I do every day to try to be proactive about it and maintain where I'm at. So yeah, just trying to keep it fresh, keep it light, and keep doing what I've been doing.”

When Hauser spoke about the injury at the end of October, he said that he wasn’t sure how long the issue would persist. “We’ll see, he said.

And even though it doesn’t sound like he’ll be free of the ailment anytime soon, it does seem as though he’s not in as much pain as he was before. Hauser’s been playing more freely, and that alone is a better report than his last one.

The mental hurdle of returning from injury is always there, but Hauser feels good about the way he’s bounced back.

“I feel like every time you miss a little time, the first couple games, it's sort of like a mental thing, honestly, a little bit,” Hauser said. “You just have to overcome that hurdle a little bit. No matter how serious the injury is, I think there's always a mental aspect to it. And those first couple of games back, I guess you're kind of just trying to feel things out again. 

“But overall, I've been feeling good. I feel like I'm playing pretty confidently now, and overall I think I've done a pretty solid job. But, yeah, we just got to continue what we've been doing.”