All-Defensive Second Team: Jrue Holiday, Jimmy Butler, Mikal Bridges, Jaren Jackson Jr., Robert Williams
Overall, this year's All-Defensive Teams hadn't changed much compared with the lineups from the past few years.
The main difference was that the Celtics' improved defense this season had helped Marcus Smart and Robert Williams earn spots on the All-Defensive Teams. Smart had even edged out Brother Zhu to make the First Team.
In the eyes of some fans, Smart's selection was a little questionable. But the results were already in, and no amount of criticism could change them.
Marcus Smart had successfully added First Team All-Defense to the list of honors in his career.
Aside from Smart and Robert Williams, most of the other spots had once again gone to several established defensive powerhouses.
For the Pelicans, both of their lockdown defensive anchors had comfortably made the Second Team. As for the Bucks, The Greek Freak had once again been a pillar of strength all by himself~~
Over on the Thunder, Chen Xi had remained a fixture on the First Team, once again achieving the honor of making both All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team.
He wondered whose whole life this had just become~~
Then there were two fresh young faces.
One was Josh Bridges, who had anchored the Suns' wing defense. The other was Jaren Jackson Jr., who had likewise shored up the Grizzlies' interior defense.
Overall, both lineups were of a very high caliber.
The one disappointment was that, as of today, only Chen and The Greek Freak were still fighting in the Playoffs.
Everyone else had already gone home or was off fishing~~
Perhaps in this fast-paced, offense-friendly era, the saying that defense won championships was no longer a "truth" with quite enough persuasive power...
Night fell.
After the new awards