NEW YORK — The Celtics will still not be at full strength on Monday night as they take on the Knicks in Game 4 of their second round series. Sam Hauser was downgraded to out for the contest after he missed the last two games with a right ankle sprain. Hauser was originally listed as questionable before he was ruled out an hour before tip.
Hauser suffered an ankle sprain in the Celtics’ Game 1 loss last week against the Knicks after he landed awkwardly following a 3-point contest of OG Anunoby. He took part in Boston’s shoot around Monday morning before Game 4, going through a full workout with Boston coaches.
Kristaps Porzingis continues to deal with fatigue lingering from an illness but has played the last two games for Boston, although he hasn’t topped 20 minutes in either game.
It’s unclear just how much the Celtics would have used Hauser while facing a 2-1 series deficit if he was available. The sharpshooting forward did not play in the first half of Game 1 as Joe Mazzulla went with an eight-man rotation that included two bigs off the bench. Hauser got a chance in the second half when Porzingis left the game due to illness, but only lasted a few minutes before suffering an ankle injury.
Hauser is averaging 2.7 points per game over 13 minutes in his six postseason appearances this year.
