Mask now Hamilton's trademark

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Richard Hamilton's clear, plastic mask has become his trademark, as distinct as his ability to curl around screens and make mid-range jumpers.

Detroit's shooting guard considers the device protecting his nose, which has been broken three times, as simply another piece of equipment.

"It's just like a headband now," Hamilton said Wednesday. "I wore it all last year. This year, I wear it because I didn't want to have setbacks because having to have two surgeries last year wasn't cool at all."

The Pistons are glad he's healthy because they need him to perform like he did in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Hamilton scored a game-high 24 points Tuesday, leading the Pistons to a 96-79 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Trailing the series 2-1, Detroit will host Game 4 Thursday night and Game 5 Sunday night.

Hamilton said he plans to abandon the mask next season.

"This will probably be my last year wearing it," he said. "I'll retire it and put it up on the mantel and have everybody sign it."

Pistons athletic trainer Mike Abdenour laughed when he heard about Hamilton's plan.

"We'll humor him by letting him say that," Abdenour said. "He was saying the same things last year, so I guess we'll just have to convince him to wear it again when we get to training camp."

Hamilton said he first broke his nose in 2002, after his third and final season in Washington, and it broke again twice last season. He needed to have surgery each time.

"After the second surgery, Dr. Eugene Rontal, said to him, 'If you were my son, you'd be wearing that mask,' " Abdenour recalled. "If he ever needs another surgery on his nose, he'll be out a significant period of time because they would have to reconstruct everything."

Teams construct defenses to slow down Hamilton, and often fail, especially in the playoffs.

Since acquiring Hamilton from the Wizards for Jerry Stackhouse, he has scored at least 20 points in 49 of 61 games and has averaged 21.5 points — 4.3 more than his regular-season clip over six NBA seasons. He helped Detroit win a title last year and contend for one this season.