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Inside The Celtics

The One Stat That Almost Always Leads to a Big Boston Celtics Lead and a Win

The Celtics have a a high-powered, potent offense, but when this one thing happens, it pushes the scoring into overdrive
John Karalis|
Jan 28, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward Sam Hauser (30) attempts a basket against Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the first half at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
Jan 28, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward Sam Hauser (30) attempts a basket against Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the first half at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

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The Celtics are capable of some big scoring quarters. They have scored 35 points or more in a quarter 25 times this season, with 10 of those being 40+ point games … and two of THOSE were 52 and 53 point quarters.  

There have been six 50-plus point quarters this season. Boston is the only team to do it twice. 

There are a lot of reasons why the Celtics can get themselves going in those big quarters, but there is almost always one constant. 

Sam Hauser’s shooting. When Hauser has it going, the Celtics go from potent to omnipotent. 

Here’s a look, Per StatMuse, at his last 20 games with three or more three-pointers in a quarter during a game:

Date

Quarter

3PM

Opponent

Quarter score

4/3/26

1

3

Bucks

43-26 BOS

4/1/26

1

5

Heat

53-33 BOS

3/10/26

2

3

Spurs

29-27 SAS

3/8/26

3

3

Cavs

33-30 CLE

2/24/26

3

3

Suns

30-11 BOS

1/17/26

2

6

Hawks

52-28 BOS

1/9/26

1

4

Raptors

37-30 BOS

12/26/25

3

4

Pacers

36-30 BOS

12/19/25

4

4

Heat

37-27 BOS

11/29/25

2

3

Timberwolves

33-27 BOS

10/29/25

1

5

Cavs

42-40 CLE

4/13/25

1

4

Hornets

33-15 BOS

4/11/25

3

3

Hornets

37-22 BOS

3/23/25

2

3

Trail Blazers

30-27 BOS

3/10/25

3

7

Jazz

37-22 BOS

2/10/25

2

4

Heat

34-19 BOS

1/31/25

1

3

Pelicans

34-31 NOP

1/22/25

1

3

Clippers

34-33 LAC

1/2/25

2

3

Timberwolves

34-16 BOS

12/4/24

3

3

Pistons

31-30 BOS

The Celtics are averaging 36 points in quarters Hauser hits three or more three-pointers per game. That would give them an offensive rating somewhere above 130, a historically elite level of scoring. They only trailed five times in these games, and never by more than three points. The Celtics won these quarters by double-digits 10 times. 

The Celtics are 18-2 in these games, 11 of which were double-digit margins of victory, and seven of those were 18-plus.

Not only does Hauser's shooting add points in a hurry, quickly stacking up game-breaking runs, he creates space for his teammates. 

“Somebody like me who likes to get to the paint, get down hill, when you have Sam Hauser on the floor, you really can’t help,” Jaylen Brown said after Hauser hit five three-pointers in the first quarter against Miami. “If you do, he’ll make you pay.” 

And because all of this is true, the threat of Hauser on the floor is as important as him making the shots themselves. Here’s a good example of an overreaction to Hauser that created for a teammate. 

There has been some debate about whether to start Hauser or Baylor Scheierman, but Hauser is the best choice because of his gravity and potential to break games open. When he gets going, there's no stopping the Boston offense. If he can get going early, it puts other teams in a huge bind because they're often fighting back from double-digit, even 20-point deficits, which is very difficult to do against the league's fourth-ranked defense.

The Celtics have two monster offensive players in Brown and Jayson Tatum. When Hauser accentuates what they're doing like he did against Miami and Milwaukee, their offense becomes an unstoppable runaway train.  

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John Karalis
JOHN KARALIS

John Karalis is a 20-year veteran of Celtics coverage and was nominated for NSMA's Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year in 2019. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016 and has written two books about the Celtics. John was born and raised in Pawtucket, RI. He graduated from Shea High School in Pawtucket, where he played football, soccer, baseball, and basketball and was captain of the baseball and basketball teams. John graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism and was a member of their Gold Key Honor Society. He was a four-year starter and two-year captain of the Men’s Basketball team, and remains one of the school's top all-time scorers, and Emerson's all-time leading rebounder. He is also the first Emerson College player to play professional basketball (Greece). John started his career in television, producing and creating shows since 1997. He spent nine years at WBZ, launching two different news and lifestyle shows before ascending to Executive Producer and Managing Editor. He then went to New York, where he was a producer and reporter until 2018. John is one of Boston’s original Celtics bloggers, creating RedsArmy.com in 2006. In 2018, John joined the Celtics beat full-time for MassLive.com and then went to Boston Sports Journal in 2021, where he covered the Celtics for five years. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016, and it currently ranks as the #1 Boston Celtics podcast on iTunes and Spotify rankings. He is also one of the co-hosts of the Locked on NBA podcast.

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