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One Possession: Sure-handed Sam Hauser leads NBA with one wild stat

No one has taken care of the basketball better than Sam Hauser.

When Sam Hauser is busting out the binoculars celebration, you know the Boston Celtics are rolling.

Hauser did that after delivering a fancy one-handed dime to a cutting Derrick White as the Boston Celtics pushed their lead as high as 46 en route to a 119-80 thrashing of the Charlotte Hornets in an NBA Cup Group C battle on Friday night at Spectrum Center. 

You won’t need binoculars for this eye-catching number: Hauser has now played a league-best 186 minutes, 37 seconds without a turnover this season. 

Hauser has been credited with a total of 204 total passes this season without a single giveaway. On Friday night, he handed out three second-quarter assists as the Celtics piled up a season-high 33 helpers (on just 38 total makes) and padded their Cup differential against the injury-riddled Hornets.

Hauser’s overall stat line doesn’t jump off the page this year: He’s averaging 7.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists over 20.8 minutes per game. He’s shooting 40.8 percent while hoisting 5.4 3-pointers per game (and still holds the NBA record for 3-point rate with 84 percent of his total shot attempts coming beyond the arc). 

But his impact is undeniable. The Celtics are outscoring opponents by 19.4 points per 100 possessions in Hauser’s 187 minutes on the court, and that number plummets to a mere +0.8 points per 100 possessions in his 250 minutes on the bench. A +18.6 net differential is the best mark among all Boston players.

In the 111 minutes that Hauser has shared the floor with Jayson Tatum, the Celtics are posting a sizzling 127.8 offensive rating and have outscored opponents by 26.9 points per 100 possessions. A Hauser/Tatum/White trio has posted a +52.8 net rating in 28 total minutes together.

It continues a career-long trend for Hauser of positively impacting winning by simply taking care of the basketball and spacing the floor. Hauser has ranked in the 97th percentile or higher in turnover rate in each of the last three seasons, turning the ball over on just 5.7 percent of possessions last season (35 turnovers in 1,934 minutes).

Hauser is never going to be mistaken for a point guard, but his ability to value the basketball matters when the Celtics want to dominate the possession game. He shoots when he has open looks, is a willing ball-mover when he doesn’t, and good things tend to happen when he’s on the court.

And every now and then he’ll throw a fancy dime worthy of breaking out the binoculars.

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