Tag: marcus smart

Official 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive Teams

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2019-20 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, leads the 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced today.

Antetokounmpo received 97 NBA All-Defensive First Team votes from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters and earned 195 total points. This marks the second straight NBA All-Defensive First Team selection for Antetokounmpo, who also made the Second Team in 2016-17.

Joining Antetokounmpo on the 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive First Team are Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (187 points; 87 First Team votes), Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons (185 points; 88 First Team votes), Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (180 points; 85 First Team votes) and Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (152 points; 57 First Team votes).

Davis, who finished in second place for the 2019-20 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, has been named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the second time to go with two Second Team honors. This is the fourth consecutive NBA All-Defensive First Team selection for Gobert, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Smart has been selected to the First Team for the second season in a row. Simmons is a First Team choice in his NBA All-Defensive Team debut.

The 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive Second Team consists of LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (128 points), Bucks center Brook Lopez (67), Miami Heat forward Bam Adebayo (61), Clippers guard Patrick Beverley (60) and Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe (59).

Leonard has been named to the NBA All-Defensive Team (First Team and Second Team) for the sixth time. This is the third NBA All-Defensive Team selection for Beverley and the second for Bledsoe. Adebayo and Lopez join Simmons as first-time selections to the NBA All-Defensive Team.

With the selection of Antetokounmpo to the NBA All-Defensive First Team and Lopez and Bledsoe to the Second Team, the Bucks are the first team to have at least three players named to the NBA All-Defensive Team since the Memphis Grizzlies in 2012-13 (Tony Allen, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol).

Players were awarded two points for each vote to the NBA All-Defensive First Team and one point for each vote to the Second Team. Voters selected two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position they play regularly. Players who received votes at multiple positions were slotted at the position at which they received the most votes.

The voting was conducted based on regular-season games played through March 11. The seeding games, which were played July 30 – Aug. 14 as part of the 2019-20 season restart, did not count toward voting for the NBA All-Defensive Team or the league’s other traditional end-of-season awards.

Marcus Smart dealing with eye infection

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart, one of the team’s most important players, is dealing with a lingering eye infection. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:

The infection in the Celtics guard’s left eye that has kept him out of the team’s last three games has now spread to his right eye, coach Brad Stevens said after practice on Monday.

Smart wasn’t at the Celtics practice facility as the team returned Monday and it’s uncertain when he will be back. Either way, his status seems to be in jeopardy as the Celtics return to action on Wednesday night at Dallas.

“You’re worried about it but I was told this particular type of infection could be 7-10 days,” Stevens said Monday. “We’re at seven now.”

The Celtics are 17-7 this season. Smart has started 15 of 20 games played and is averaging 11.8 points and 4.6 assists per game, and is one of the team’s key defensive players.

Kemba Walker set to return for Celtics

 

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The Celtics are close to getting guard Kemba Walker (neck sprain) back in action. The team today listed him as “probable” for tomorrow’s home game in Boston against the Brooklyn Nets.

At 12-4, the Celtics are tied this season with the Heat and Raptors for the Eastern conference’s second best record, behind the 14-3 Bucks.

Although Kemba Walker is a point guard, his primary role on Boston has been that of a scorer. He leads the team in points per game at 21.1 PPG, and is second on the team in assists per game at 4.7 APG (Marcus Smart is first at 5.1 APG).

An observation that for now we will pretend is a totally random thing to mention right now: Celtics team success this season has come more from defense than offense.

We’ll be watching the team in the coming weeks specifically to see who creates scoring opportunities for others.

In the meantime, Walker is fitting in, and the team is winning.

This blog entry pulled you in all sorts of directions. We know.

Marcus Smart out for Celtics tonight

Preseason is a warmup period. Many stars play sparingly. Plenty of players suffer very minor bumps and bruises and wind up sitting out more than probably necessary, just to be on the safe side. But personal tragedy, which Marcus Smart recently suffered, as his mother recently passed away, can of course happen at any time. Here’s the Boston Globe:

The Celtics will begin their preseason without guard Marcus Smart, who did not make the trip with his teammates to North Carolina and will miss Friday’s opener because of what the team called personal reasons.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Smart is expected back with the team Saturday or for Sunday’s game against Charlotte and that Smart is physically healthy. Smart, 24, is still grieving following the death of his mother, Camellia, on Sept. 16 and admitted moving on from her passing has been difficult.

Preseason begins tonight, with the Celtics facing the Hornets.

Celtics re-sign Marcus Smart

The Celtics re-signed guard Marcus Smart today.

According to the Boston Herald, “the Celtics appeared to be bidding against themselves as they renewed serious negotiations and agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal with Marcus Smart Thursday. But they were willing to pass on a potentially bargain year of Smart at the qualifying offer of $6,053,719 to lock him up for multiple years and avoid an far more uncertain dance next summer when he could be an unrestricted free agent.”

Smart, 24, produced 10.2 points in 2017-18 to go along with a career-high 4.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 29.9 minutes over 54 games played (11 starts). He played a key role in Boston’s league-leading defense, which allowed just 99.5 points per 100 possessions with him on the court (3rd among guards who appeared in half of their team’s games).

Smart also ranked in the top-25 in defensive deflections per game, and the top-10 in charges drawn per game among players who appeared in half of their team’s games in 2017-18.

“Keeping Marcus in a Celtics uniform was a top priority, and we’re excited to have accomplished that,” said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. “His intensity is unmatched, and the level of toughness that he brings to the team throughout the course of the entire season is second to none.”

“This is where I want to be, and I’m ready to put a green jersey back on and get to work,” said Smart. “I’m determined to help my teammates bring another championship to the best fans in the world.”

Smart missed the final 15 games of the regular season due to injury, before returning in Game 5 of the First Round of the NBA Playoffs against Milwaukee. He averaged 9.8 points, 5.3 assists and 1.73 steals in 15 postseason games, including a 19-point performance (6-13 FG, 4-10 3-PT) in Boston’s victory over Philadelphia in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on May 3.

A four-year NBA veteran and the team’s longest tenured Celtic, Smart has averaged 9.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.48 steals and 28.7 minutes over 261 career games (83 starts).