Boston Celtics guard Marcus Good had an open lane for a simple fast-break basket. Then he unnecessarily moved the ball behind his again and flubbed a layup.
A minute later, he had the ball once more and hit an acrobatic circus shot on the baseline from behind the backboard. He drew a foul, too.
That was the Marcus Good Expertise in a nutshell on Thursday night time: generally ugly, generally entertaining, all the time impactful. In Recreation 2 of the Jap Convention finals, Good had 24 factors, 9 rebounds and 12 assists in a recreation the Celtics completely dominated, 127-102, to tie the best-of-seven sequence. He had solely a single turnover in among the best playoff performances of his career.
This season has seen the continuation of a outstanding shift for the 28-year-old Good: There’s rather a lot much less ugly. He’s emerged as a gradual, dependable level guard who can greater than competently run Boston’s offense, whilst his efforts on the opposite finish of the ground — he was named the N.B.A.’s defensive participant of the yr — draw probably the most consideration.
Good missed the primary recreation of the sequence on Tuesday due to a foot sprain, and his absence was evident. The Celtics collapsed within the third quarter, when Good’s abilities for calming the offense down and anchoring the protection might have modified the sport.
Proper from the opening tip on Thursday, Good affected the sport. The Celtics first scored off a troublesome cross-court go from Good to capturing guard Jaylen Brown. Good instantly adopted that with a harder-than-it-looked alley-oop to middle Robert Williams III.
Within the first half, although, Good shot a dismal 2 for 11 from the sphere. For many gamers, that might imply they had been having a foul recreation. However Good was among the best gamers on the court docket, due to his seven assists and nil turnovers. The Celtics led by 25 at halftime, they usually had outscored the Heat by 26 points with Good on the ground.
“I’m not the kind of coach that desires to name a play each time down,” Celtics Coach Ime Udoka mentioned. “I go away it in his arms, and he often makes the best choice.”
Good didn’t get pleasure from the identical type of belief earlier in his profession. Within the earlier seven years of his N.B.A. journey, all with Boston, Good was recognized principally as a stalwart defensive participant with a penchant for throwing up dangerous photographs early within the shot clock and for making ill-advised passes. He was additionally, for probably the most half, a poor shooter from 3-point vary. Good had different attributes that made him a fan favourite, nonetheless, similar to his willingness to always dive to the ground for unfastened balls.
This yr, regardless of his perceived offensive limitations, Good was handed the keys to the Celtics offense for the primary time. It was a dangerous choice. Good had by no means been a place to begin guard for a complete season. He had by no means even been a full-time starter till the 2020-21 season. He had performed behind star level guards like Kemba Walker and Isaiah Thomas, two former All-Stars who had made their dwelling as scorers. However Walker’s accidents final yr gave Good an opportunity a get a style of being the primary level guard.
Good initially struggled adjusting to his new position, as did the remainder of the Celtics. In his first 50 video games this season, Good averaged 11.7 factors and 5.3 assists. Boston’s offense usually seemed caught within the mud. After a November loss to the Chicago Bulls, Good incurred the ire of his teammates when he publicly criticized the 2 greatest gamers on the crew, Brown and Jayson Tatum, for not passing the ball extra. Good’s underwhelming level guard play contributed to Boston’s lackadaisical 25-25 begin.
However then got here the turnaround. In Good’s last 21 video games of the common season, he averaged 13.2 factors and seven.1 assists on 43.2 p.c capturing. He additionally morphed right into a extra dependable shooter. Whereas there have been definitely different elements, Good’s enchancment coincided with the Celtics’ surge from fringe playoff crew to N.B.A. finals contender. Tatum mentioned Thursday that Good had given the Celtics “one other man who can deal with the ball beneath stress and get us organized and get us in place the place we have to be.”
His robust playmaking has carried over into the playoffs. Within the first spherical towards the Nets, Good averaged 16.5 factors and seven assists in Boston’s four-game sweep. Towards the Milwaukee Bucks within the second spherical, Good averaged 14 factors and 5.7 assists, whereas capturing 39.4 p.c from behind the 3-point line.
“Being the purpose guard that I’m, I take loads of stress off our guys so that they don’t should attempt to power it as a lot to allow them to be who they’re,” Good mentioned after Thursday’s recreation.
That is all whereas Good has usually been tasked with guarding the opposition’s greatest gamers. Within the first spherical, these had been Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. He adopted that up by switching between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Vacation within the second spherical. Towards Miami, Good was requested to attempt to decelerate Jimmy Butler on Thursday night time.
Good more and more has discovered himself rescuing the Celtics along with his offense in addition to his protection. When the Warmth had been making a third-quarter run in Recreation 2, it was Good who took it upon himself to cease it. Along with his circus shot over the backboard, Good hit a number of 3s to cease the bleeding. He scored 11 factors within the quarter, together with the spotlight of the sport. The Warmth had reduce the result in 17 and the Miami crowd was out of the blue re-engaged. Good dribbled the ball up, bounced a crossover dribble between his legs, inflicting Warmth ahead Max Strus to tumble backward to the ground. As he scrambled to his toes, Good calmly stepped ahead and made a free-throw line jumper.
That was the brand new Marcus Good Expertise. Undisturbed beneath stress. Dependable. And nonetheless entertaining.
“That’s what I received drafted right here to do, and I simply waited my flip,” Good mentioned. “And I’m blessed to be on this scenario and to have the chance to exit and present what I can do. And I feel all people within the group — on the earth — has seen what I can do at that time guard place.”
