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.
Another good play for Garza. Look like the Cs wanted to go to Spain PnR but Garza goes to set the pindown for Hauser. Sam’s gravity as a shooter gets attention of both defenders allowing Garza to roll open for the and 1 pic.twitter.com/cFU4pDurNu
— NikNBA🏀 (@NIKNBAYT) October 9, 2025
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.