Sam Hauser sets new NBA record in Celtics' win vs. Cavs

The Boston Celtics have put together their first win streak of the young season. Monday night in New Orleans, they knocked off a Pelicans team missing Zion Williamson. On Wednesday at TD Garden, they thwarted a more formidable opponent.

The hosts earned a 125-105 victory vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers. The visitors, a top team in the Eastern Conference, entered this matchup on a three-game winning streak.

In the first frame, the two sides traded threes in a back-and-forth battle that resembled Marvin Hagler against Tommy Hearns. A central figure in that exchange was Sam Hauser.

The six-foot-eight sharpshooter emerged from Boston's bench and buried four threes on four tries in under three minutes. When he knocked down his fifth, it reset the record for the most makes from beyond the arc in a quarter this season, per Justin Turpin of WEEI.

Hauser's five triples are also the third-most he has made in any quarter of his four-year career.

Sam Hauser helps Boston's bench upstage Cleveland's

The Wisconsin native was at the heart of the Celtics' bench, decisively outplaying the Cavaliers' second unit. The former contributed 45 points in a winning effort while the latter chipped in 18 in the loss.

While no one came off the bench for Cleveland to score in double figures, Hauser finished with 21 points in 21 minutes. He drilled seven of the 13 shots he hoisted from behind the arc.

"It's just one of those nights where -- the game is funny sometimes. I check in, [and] I get four shots like in the first minute. And then hit another one at the end of the first, and then I don't touch it for two quarters, and then it comes back around in the fourth. Like, it's a funny thing, sometimes I got left open a few times, and just trying to make them count. And it just happened so fast, but I didn't really have time to process it. It just kind of happened."

Hauser's ability to maintain his legs while the Celtics employ a more active playing style, scrambling around defensively, trying to force turnovers, and flying up the floor offensively, is crucial. It's also difficult to overstate the value of him not losing his rhythm even when he goes extended periods with minimal touches.

So, while there were concerns about him being an offseason casualty of Boston's need to gain flexibility, with even team-friendly deals coming with a steep luxury tax, the decision to keep him allowed the franchise to hang on to a player who can have a significant role in what they hope is an immediate return to championship contention when Jayson Tatum is healthy and reacclimated.