Brown still adjusting to his new face mask
BOSTON — The mask seems to fit Jaylen Brown pretty well.
Four nights after he debuted the mask in the All-star Game — where he scored a team-high 35 points for Team Lebron — Brown returned to real action after missing four games before the break and didn't look bothered at all by the fitted black mask on his face.
Brown scored 30 points in leading the Celtics to a 142-138 overtime victory over the Pacers on Thursday night.
Unlike the All-star Game, which he described as a "glorified layup line" because of the effort it was played with, Thursday's return was the first time Brown played with the mask on in a full-speed game with contact.
"It's going to take some getting used to," Brown told reporters in Indiana. "It's just some things I need to adjust and adapt to, but I will.
"Today was the first, I would say real game with it on. I think it went fine, but it's going to definitely take some getting used to and some adjustments and being able to adapt to it. But so far, so good."
Brown told reporters that he's expecting to have the mask on for games for 4-6 weeks, and one week has already passed.
"We're going to be real acquainted with each other after this duration," Brown said of the mask.
Brown is wearing a mask because he suffered a facial fracture in the Celtics' win over the 76ers on Feb. 8, when he inadvertently caught an elbow from Jayson Tatum while they were both chasing an offensive rebound.
Brown immediately left the game and didn't return, then missed four consecutive games before the All-star Game.
While he's still getting adjusted to the mask, it didn't affect how he approached Thursday's game. But he's still getting used to some of the unique nuances of wearing it.
"It's pretty thick," Brown said. "Sometimes it gets a little hot on your face, but I felt protected. I didn't shy away from contact. I didn't feel like I had to alter my game or anything like that.
"It gets a little uncomfortable at times, and then sometimes you have to get your head around and make sure you see everything, if somebody is coming from behind or somebody's in your side view, but just be able to make those adjustments, you have to keep your head up and see the floor."
Scary moment: Tatum had a rough 9-for-25 shooting performance — which included a 2-for-12 start — in Thursday's win and he joked about a hangover from his All-star break vacation that contributed to it. But a scary fall early in the game may have also played a factor.
With 2:48 left in the first quarter, Tatum made a strong drive to the basket in transition and was called for a charge as he collided with former teammate Aaron Nesmith. But as he crashed to the floor he landed on his ailing left wrist. He jumped up immediately to shake it off and stayed in the game.
Tatum suffered a small fracture in his left wrist last season and played through it throughout the Celtics' run to the NBA Finals.
It's still been lingering this season, and Tatum has taped it for every game. He admitted some fear after Thursday's fall.