Sam Hauser Drops Career-High 24 Points in Celtics' Win Over Pistons

The former Wahoo made it rain with six threes in Boston on Wednesday night

Celtics Junkies/Tw

In the postgame press conference following Virginia's season-opening win over NC Central on Monday night, Tony Bennett took a moment to comment on former UVA men's basketball player Sam Hauser and how much joy Bennett has experienced watching Hauser have success in the NBA with the Boston Celtics. 

"And by the way, I'm so happy for Sam and how well he's doing," Bennett said on Monday with a big smile. 

Hauser must have heard the praise he received from his former coach because two nights later, he set a new career-high, scoring 24 points to help the Celtics defeat the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night in Boston. Hauser knocked down nine of his 15 field goal attempts, including six three-pointers, and also collected two rebounds in 32 minutes of action. 

Watch the full highlights from Hauser's career-high 24-point performance in the video below:

Hauser broke his previous career-high of 17 points, which he set last Friday against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. He hit five threes in that game and the Celtics set a franchise record with 27 made three-pointers. 

This has been a breakout season so far for Hauser, who played sparingly in his rookie season, but showed enough promise that the Celtics felt he deserved a $6 million contract to keep him with the organization for at least the next three seasons. 

Through the first 11 games of the season, the former UVA sharpshooter has proven that the faith the Celtics put in him was well-placed. Hauser has made 24 threes and his three-point percentage of 53.3% currently ranks third in the NBA from among players who have taken at least 25 three-point attempts this season. 

Together with another former UVA men's basketball star Malcolm Brogdon, Hauser has helped lead the Boston Celtics to an 8-3 start to the season, good for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference standings. Hauser and the Celtics will host the Denver Nuggets on Friday at 7pm. 

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