Marcus Smart, Mikal Bridges top NBA All-Defensive first team

Posted May 20, 2022 7:00 am

The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics was the leading vote-getter for the All-Defensive first team, with Mikal Bridges of the Phoenix Suns joining him as the other guard.

Former Defensive Players of the Year Rudy Gobert of Utah and Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee were also voted Friday to the first team along with Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr.

Smart received 99 first-place votes and 198 points from the panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. Bridges, the runner-up to Smart for the league's top defensive award, got 95 first-team votes and three second-team votes for a total of 193 points.

Players received two points for a first-team vote and one for a second-team vote.

Gobert, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, was a first-team All-Defensive selection for the sixth straight season. Antetokounmpo made it for the fourth straight season, which includes the 2019-20 season when was both the NBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year.

Jackson, who led the league with 2.27 blocks per game, is a first-time selection.

The second team was Miami forward Bam Adebayo, Milwaukee guard Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia guard Matisse Thybulle, Boston center Robert Williams III and Golden State forward Draymond Green.

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Phoenix Suns forward Mikal Bridges (25) drives past Dallas Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith (10) to score during the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Tuesday, May 10, 2022, in Phoenix. The Suns won 110-80. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) The Associated Press

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