Masked Jaylen Brown made his "official" debut Thursday night in Indiana, with Boston Celtics star rocking a black face mask in a regular-season game for the first time after giving it a test run during Sunday's NBA All-Star Game.
Brown's stats Thursday suggest he'll be just fine with the mask: He tallied 30 points on 11-of-24 shooting (3-of-5 from 3-point range) while adding 11 rebounds, three assists and a steal in Boston's overtime win over the Pacers.
But it sounds like there will be an adjustment period for Brown with his new facial hardware, which was custom-made for the Celtics star after he suffered a facial fracture on Feb. 8.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Celtics Talk POSTGAME POD: C's outlast Pacers in back-and-forth OT battle | Listen & Subscribe
"It’s going to take some getting used to," Brown said after the game, as seen in the video player above. "There’s just some things I've got to adjust and adapt to. But I will."
Brown said he felt confident enough to drive to the basket and take contact but admitted the mask isn't the most comfortable and somewhat impacted his peripheral vision.
Boston Celtics
Find the latest Boston Celtics news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
"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."
Forsberg: Celtics have yet to find their ideal closing lineup
Brown committed three turnovers and five fouls Thursday night, so he may indeed need more reps with the mask before feeling more comfortable. He should get those reps, too: The All-Star guard said he's supposed to wear the mask for four-to-six weeks, although last week's All-Star break counted toward that total.
"We’re going be real acquainted with each other after this duration," Brown said of his mask.
Brown missed four games leading into the All-Star break, so some rust was to be expected Thursday, especially with his new hardware. The fact that Brown came out and dropped 30 points while playing his usual aggressive style of basketball is great news for the Celtics as they hit the home stretch.