Jaylen Brown returned to action for the Boston Celtics Thursday night with a black protective mask covering the top half of his face.
His game, however, had nothing to hide.
In his first contest back with the C’s after suffering a facial fracture on Feb. 8, Brown erupted for a massive double-double, pouring in 30 points and corralling 11 rebounds in a 142-138 overtime win over the host Indiana Pacers.
Aside from it impacting his peripheral vision, Brown didn’t have much of an issue getting used to the mask. He looked as aggressive as always, making six shots at the rim while also earning five trips to the free-throw line. He also had one of his best offensive rebounding games as a pro, tying his career-high with five boards on that end.
“I felt protected, and I didn’t shy away from contact,” said Brown, who added that he'll need to wear the mask for four-to-six weeks. “It gets a little uncomfortable at times and then sometimes you’ve got to get your head around and make sure you see everything if somebody’s coming from behind or somebody’s in your side view. But just to be able to make those adjustments, you’ve got to keep your head up and see the floor.”
Brown also had the luxury of testing out his new headgear during Sunday night’s All-Star Game in Salt Lake City. It didn’t seem to impact him there, either, as he scored a team-high 35 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds while suiting up for Team LeBron.
Thursday night’s game, however, was an entirely different test. While there was minimal contact during the All-Star Game, the Pacers matchup proved to be one of the more physical games of Boston’s season. But that didn’t seem to hold Brown back.
“Today was the first, I would say, real game with it on and I think it went fine,” he reflected after finishing one point and one rebound shy of Jayson Tatum's team-high marks in those categories. “It’s definitely going to take some getting used to, making adjustments, and being able to adapt to it. But so far, so good.”
Hauser Wows Teammates with Shot-Blocking
Sam Hauser reminded us Thursday night that he’s capable of being more than just a 3-point threat. He’s also a rising two-way player, who’s been making an impact on the defensive end of late.
Although he wasn’t on the floor for long against the Pacers, it didn’t prevent him from having the best shot-blocking game of his career. He recorded three swats in just 13 minutes of action, becoming the first non-center/power forward in Celtics history to block at least that many shots in a game while playing fewer than 15 minutes.
Hauser has also had some strong rebounding efforts recently, corralling five or more boards in four of Boston’s last eight games.
However, he’s never protected the rim with such an impact as he did Thursday night, and Jaylen Brown wants to see more of that from his wing-mate.
“I bet you if Sam is bringing that energy to the floor, a lot of times we’re going to be winning those games,” said Brown. “We just gotta match that energy as a unit, and Sam set the tone with a couple of big plays defensively, but offensively also, made some big shots for us.”
Hauser took care of his business on the offensive end, making all three of his 3-point attempts, including one on a critical block-and-score in the fourth quarter that turned what could have been a four-point lead into a nine-point lead.