Scoring depth has helped the Celtics build one of the best records in the NBA. The San Antonio Spurs will have to deal with that Wednesday when they visit Boston in each team’s final game before the All-Star Weekend.
Jayson Tatum (26.9 points per game), Jaylen Brown (22.9) and Kristaps Porzingis (19.1) are Boston’s leading scorers, but lately Sam Hauser has also been providing some strong shooting performances.
Hauser, who typically comes off the bench, scored 15 points — all on 3-pointers — during Monday’s 103-85 victory at Miami.
“When you see the first one go in, sometimes the rim looks a little bit bigger after that,” Hauser said. “I guess you could say that’s the reason I made some (against Miami).”
Hauser hit 34.1 percent of his shots from behind the 3-point arc through his first 16 games this season, but has made 44.5 percent of his attempts in 29 games since then. He’ll enter Wednesday’s game averaging 7.6 points in 19.9 minutes per game, shooting 40.5 percent from downtown.
He struggled through back issues early in the season.
“Just feeling better overall in general in terms of my body,” Hauser said. “I think that’s the biggest part. … It’s been going pretty well. I’ve been feeling a lot better.”
Boston has won six of its last seven games overall, but has lost three of its last four at home. The Celtics have a modest 16-10 record in home games.
San Antonio will bring a strong 1-2 scoring punch into Wednesday’s game with Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox. Wembanyama is averaging a team-high 24.4 points a game, and Fox is averaging 21.3 points in four games for the Spurs since he was acquired from the Sacramento Kings in a three-team trade on Feb. 3.
Wembanyama scored 31 and Fox had 30 in Monday’s 131-121 victory over Washington.
Fox said his on-court chemistry with Wembanyama is getting better with each game.
“It’s definitely evolving,” he said. “A lot of the way I get guarded is a bigger wing, someone who’s long, someone who’s probably going to switch on to Vic. Then if I do have a small, which doesn’t happen too often, they get to switch (onto) Vic, we throw it to him and he does what he does.
“We’re trying to develop that chemistry, trying to develop that two-man game, and obviously we’re not leaving guys out because I feel like both of us are able to make that kind of pass. … It’s a learning process. It’s the (fourth) game for us and we haven’t had a true practice yet because we’ve been on the road. We’re continuing to learn.”
This will be the first of two games between Spurs and Celtics during the regular season. The teams will also meet in San Antonio on March 29.
After Wednesday’s matchup both teams will be off until Feb. 20.
–Field Level Media
