Kyrie Irving finally shed his protective mask in the Boston Celtics’ win over the Detroit Pistons. Irving had worn the mask for the past month after suffering a facial fracture in an inadvertent collision with teammate Aron Baynes. He said he didn’t miss the mask and was happy to be seeing everything clearly again.
Kyrie Irving asked if he maybe missed the mask. "Nah, I was happy to see the whole arena. I was excited to be able to see everything.” Did lament misses. "Make a damn shot. I got in the paint as much as I would have liked and my left hand just wasn’t doing it for me tonight. " pic.twitter.com/RZgex0SG2V
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) December 11, 2017
Despite no longer having to deal with the impediment of the mask blocking his overall vision, Irving had a rare off-night shooting the ball against the Pistons, as he went just 4-of-12 from the field and finished with 16 points.
Irving actually played incredibly well even with the protective mask being an unwanted distraction at times. In his 13 games with the mask on, Irving averaged close to 28 points on 54 percent shooting and 47 percent from beyond the arc. Six of his seven 30-point games to date this season have been while wearing the mask.
After spending all that time adjusting with the mask, it may take some time before Irving gets comfortable playing without it again. But if he somehow continues to struggle with his shot, the Celtics may have to coax him into wearing the mask again just to check if he is indeed actually better with it on.
Follow Us
Subscribe