Boston Celtics

Brad Stevens won’t have to wear a mask for Game 1 of Celtics vs. Nets

"It’s been a lot easier to not say the wrong thing with a mask on and not get caught on the internet."

Brad Stevens and the Celtics are set to face the Nets. Jim Davis/Globe Staff

By Tom Westerholm

1 minute to read

Brad Stevens will no longer have to wear a mask to coach on Saturday as the Celtics take on the Nets in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Coaches had to wear masks throughout the season, which occasionally looked complicated. Often, coaches pulled them away from their faces or pushed them down to yell instructions to be heard, even in an empty arena.

Now players will be able to hear coaches a little better, but other complications might pop up.

“As I always say with an 11- and 15-year-old at home, it’s been a lot easier to not say the wrong thing with a mask on and not get caught on the internet than maybe it was before,” Stevens quipped to reporters before Game 1.

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Stevens added that as arenas fill up and get noisier, players will rely on lip reading.

“I think a lot of times, especially as we get into these louder environments as more people come into the stands, you call actions or signs or things with hand signals, but you also usually mouth it,” Stevens said. “So I think that, in those empty arenas, you could hear everything with or without a mask. Now that it’s not empty any more, you’re obviously going to have to lean on the combination of verbal cues, hand signals, and guys getting used to reading lips on some of those calls.”

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Earlier this week, TD Garden announced it will be near capacity when fans return, per new guidelines released by Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker.

“We have been working diligently with public health officials and experts for nearly a year to create the highest standards of guidelines and protocols to keep everyone as safe as possible at TD Garden,” said president of TD Garden Amy Latimer in a statement.

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