BOSTON (AP) — Sam Hauser made nine 3-pointers — seven in the third quarter — and finished with a career-high 33 points to lead the short-handed Boston Celtics past the Utah Jazz 114-108 on Monday night.
Hauser became the fourth Celtics player to make nine 3s in a game in 2024-25, joining Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White — the first time in NBA history that four teammates have done that in a season.
Hauser's hot stretch propelled the Celtics to a 23-point lead early in the fourth. The Jazz rallied to tie the game with 3:21 left, but Hauser's final 3 with 1:20 left made it 112-104, and the Celtics hung on from there to win their fifth straight.
John Collins scored 28 points and Collin Sexton had 16 for the Jazz, who lost their sixth in a row.
Boston was without Tatum (right knee tendinopathy), Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Al Horford (left big toe sprain). Jaylen Brown finished with 26 points.
Takeaways
Jazz: Utah won both of its coach’s challenges. The second resulted in a three-point play that was part of the Jazz's fourth-quarter surge. Utah scored 39 points in the period.
Celtics: Boston avoided a trap game against the lottery-bound Jazz after Saturday's prime-time win over the Los Angeles Lakers and ahead of Wednesday's matchup with Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City.
Key moment
After making a free throw to break a 103-103 tie, Brown missed the second but Jrue Holiday tracked down the offensive rebound. The ball swung around before Holiday buried a 3 in front of his bench to give the Celtics a four-point lead with 2:51 remaining.
Key stat
Collins was just 12 of 30 from the field.
Up next
Jazz: At Memphis on Wednesday.
Celtics: Close out a seven-game homestand by hosting Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Brendan Mcgair, The Associated Press
