Joe Mazzulla Provides Update on Sam Hauser's Back Injury: 'Trust in Whoever We Call'

Bobby Krivitsky | 8 Hours Ago

Mar 25, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Boston Celtics forward Sam Hauser (30) shoots against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Thursday, the Celtics take on the Wizards in the nation's capital. The visitors won't have Sam Hauser in the lineup because of lower back pain.

Before the game, Joe Mazzulla shared an update on the sharpshooting forward.

"It's a day-to-day thing," said Boston's bench boss, per CLNS Media. "He's getting better, working at it every day, and we'll see how he progresses."

Fortunately for the Celtics, whose title team is nearly entirely intact, returning 13 of 15 players on standard deals with them a season ago, the reigning NBA champions' depth is a source of strength.

Boston's bench boasted the highest net rating among all second units in the 2023-24 campaign, per NBA.com. It ranked in the top 10 in offensive and defensive rating.

"We have the flexibility and the depth to go different routes," said Mazzulla about navigating Hauser's absence. "It might not necessarily be a wing, it could be a guard, it could be a big, it just depends on what the matchups are in those second units."

The last time Hauser was in Washington, he generated a career-high 30 points in a 130-104 win. He also knocked down a personal-best 10/13 threes.

The six-foot-eight sharpshooter became the sixth player in the 2023-24 season to make ten triples in a game, joining Keegan Murray, Stephen Curry, Trey Murphy, Karl Anthony-Towns, and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Hauser was well on his way to breaking Marcus Smart's franchise record of 11 makes from behind the arc and had his sights set on Klay Thompson's NBA-best 14 threes in one game.

Unfortunately, he stepped on someone's foot on the Wizards' bench in the third frame, resulting in a left ankle sprain that sidelined him for the rest of the matchup.

Just as the Celtics' being without Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Kristaps Porzingis for that game allowed Hauser to step up while in an elevated role, the latter's absence on Thursday creates opportunities for his teammates further down the rotation.

"What the sub-pattern is will change from game to game. It will change within the game," said Mazzulla. "We changed sub-patterns during the game in the first quarter last game, [a 132-109 win against the Knicks], and did a good job of adapting.  

"I have trust in whoever we call that they'll be ready to play, just cause of the work that they put in and things that they do. So, it's gotta be everybody by committee, depending upon what the game needs at that particular time."