Given the comments of Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown on the NBA All-Star Game, wearing his protective face mask for the first time during that exhibition contest was just a warm-up.
The real test for Brown as he donned the shield after suffering a facial fracture just over two weeks ago came in Thursday night's overtime win against the Indiana Pacers.
Brown didn't seem too bothered by it as he put up 30 points on 11-for-24 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds in the 142-138 win. But the two-time All-Star admitted it will take some time to get fully acclimated to it.
"It's going to take some getting use to," Brown told reporters, as seen on NBC Sports Boston postgame coverage. "Just some things I got 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 definitely take some getting use to and some adjustments."
Seeing the court as he is accustomed to will be the biggest adjustment for Brown wearing the mask. He told NBC Sports Boston's Abby Chin in a walk-off interview that he felt the mask impacted him as he tried to finish a couple of layup attempts but he felt he still played with an aggressive style.
"It's pretty thick. Sometimes it gets a little hot on your face," Brown said. "I felt protected. I didn't shy away from contact. I didn't feel like I had to alter my game a little or anything like that. It's a little uncomfortable at times and then sometimes you have to get your head around to make sure you see everything, somebody coming from behind or somebody's in your side view. But just be able to make those adjustments, got to keep your head up and see the floor."
Brown doesn't expect he'll be parting ways with his new accessory anytime soon. The 26-year-old said he expects to have to play with it for four to six weeks.
"We're going to be real acquainted with each other after this duration," Brown said.
