Kyrie Irving hates wearing his mask, but he sure does show out when he’s wearing it.
The Boston Celtics’ star point guard broke a bone in his face last Friday when teammate Aron Baynes caught him with a stray elbow during a win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Irving returned to action Tuesday night wearing a mask to protect his face, and a cape should have come with it.
Irving poured in 25 points against the Brooklyn Nets, and although he ditched the mask during the Celtics’ 92-88 win over the Golden State Warriors, “masked Kyrie” returned Saturday night against the Atlanta Hawks.
And the C’s are damn glad he did.
The 25-year-old star showed up at Philips Arena just in time to rescue to Celtics from an early 16-point hole against the Hawks.
While young stars Jaylen Brown (27 points) and Jayson Tatum (14 points) played sidekick roles, Irving’s 30 points on 10-for-12 shooting slammed the door on Atlanta and lifted the C’s to their 15th consecutive win.
“I could see just a little bit more of the crowd (Saturday night),” Irving said after the game, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “The eye holes are a little bit bigger. The basket looked a little bit better.”
Irving, as he has multiple times this season, showed he can score in a variety of ways from any level.
Irving got to the free throw line at will in the fourth quarter Saturday. When he wasn’t sinking free throws with ease, the masked man was busy assaulting the Hawks from beyond the arc, dicing them up in the paint and propelling the C’s to another come-from-behind victory.
Boston acquired Irving to be its leader, its star and, in cases like Saturday, its hero. Through 17 games, he’s delivered.
Here are more notes from Celtics-Hawks:
— Jaylen Brown has been scorching hot from the field in the past two games, hitting 17 of 31 shots from the field and 7 of 14 from 3-point land for 49 points.
His 27 points Saturday night represented a season high and he combined with Irving to reach a milestone Boston hadn’t hit in over two years.
— Brown and Irving combined to go 12-for-13 from the floor, including 6-for-7 from 3-point range and 7-for-7 from the free throw line, for 36 points in the second half against the Hawks.
— The Celtics’ 15-game winning streak is reaching historic levels.
