Frustrated with a protective face mask that impairs his vision slightly, Spurs' center Francisco Elson discarded it for a brief stretch at the start of the fourth quarter of the team's preseason game against the Houston Rockets.

Elson had worn the mask throughout training camp after breaking the orbital bone around his left eye in the European Championships on August 30. But he played without the mask for the first 5 minutes, 48 seconds of the fourth period and said he would play without it in the Spurs' final practice sessions before Tuesday's regular season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers.

"I was really frustrated with it, sitting on my face like that," Elson said. "I was trying to play a little free, but it was too short to really tell."

The mask served its intended purpose on Thursday night in Orlando, however, protecting Elson's face from an elbow thrown by the Magic's Adonal Foyle.

"Thank God it was there," Elson said of the mask softening the blow he took from Foyle, "so it's good for something. But I don't have to wear it any more. They said the time is up already."