“Trust the One We Call”

The Celtics face the Wizards in the nation's capital on Thursday. The guests will not have Sam Hauser in the squad due to back pain.

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

“It’s an everyday thing,” Boston’s bank chief said, according to CLNS Media. “He’s getting better by working at it every day and we’ll see how he progresses.”

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

According to NBA.com, Boston's bench had the highest net rating of any secondary unit in the 2023-24 season. It finished in the top 10 in offensive and defensive ratings.

“We have the flexibility and the depth to go different ways,” Mazzulla said of dealing with Hauser’s absence. “It doesn’t necessarily have to 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 scored a career-high 30 points in a 130-104 win. He also hit a personal best 10/13 three-pointers.

The 1.80 meter tall sniper became the sixth player in the 2023/24 season to hit ten triples in a game, alongside Keegan Murray, Stephen Curry, Trey Murphy, Karl Anthony-Towns and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Hauser was on pace to break Marcus Smart's franchise record of 11 goals from behind the arc and had Klay Thompson's NBA-best 14 three-pointers in a game in his sights.

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

Since the Celtics were without Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis in this game, Hauser was able to step up into a higher role, and the latter's absence on Thursday opens up 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,” Mazzulla said. “We changed sub-patterns during play in the first quarter of the last game (a 132-109 win over the Knicks) and adjusted well.”

“I trust everyone we name to be ready to play just because of the work they put in and the things they do. So everyone has to be on the committee depending on what the game needs at the time.”