NBA: Boston's Marcus Smart named NBA Defensive Player of the Year

NEW YORK (AFP, REUTERS) - Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart was on Monday (April 18) named the 2021-22 National Basketball Association Defensive Player of the Year, the first back-court player to take the award since Gary Payton in 1996.

Smart became the second Boston player to capture the award after Kevin Garnett in 2008.

"I'm proud to have this award and have my name mentioned with these guys," Smart said.

He received 257 total points, including 37 first-place votes, from a global media panel with Phoenix forward Mikal Bridges second on 202 with 22 first-place nods.

Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert, a Frenchman who won the award three of the past four seasons, was third with 136 points, including 12 first-place votes.

Retired Seattle star Payton was at a ceremony in the Celtics' training facility to tell Smart he had won the award.

"That was awesome," Smart said. "He was really the idol for guards to have a chance. He set the bar high."

Smart, an eight-year NBA veteran, said it takes a special attitude to capture the NBA's top defensive player award.

"Definitely a mentality, a swagger. You've got to have a chip on your shoulder," he said. "You've got to believe in yourself like nobody else and guard everybody tough."

He played 71 games for Boston this season and ranked sixth in the NBA with 119 total steals, seventh in steals per game on 1.68.

Smart, 28, shared fourth in the NBA with 75 loose balls recovered and shared 10th with 206 deflections and 16 charging fouls drawn. He also pulled down a career-best 3.2 defensive rebounds a game.

The Celtics led the NBA with the fewest points allowed per game with 104.5 and kept rivals to the NBA's lowest shooting percentage at 43.4 and worst three-point shooting percentage at 33.9.

That defensive hustle helped Boston finish as the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs at 51-31.

Smart also averaged 12.1 points, a career-high 5.9 assists and 3.8 rebounds a game.

Separately, the NBA has also settled four tie-breakers among play-off participants to help determine some of the order for the 2022 NBA Draft, to be held June 23 in New York.

A third-party accounting firm was hired to oversee the process, which involved nine teams and was done by random drawing.

The Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves tied with identical 46-36 records, with the Bulls winning the tie-breaker that will allow them to select first among the two teams. The Toronto Raptors won their tie-breaker with the Denver Nuggets, after both teams finished 48-34.

Three teams finished 51-31, with the Philadelphia 76ers selected to draft ahead of both the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics. In an additional tie-breaker, the Bucks were selected to draft ahead of the Celtics.

The final duo to finish with the same records were the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors at 53-29, matching for the third-best finish in the NBA. The Heat won the tie-breaker to select ahead of the Warriors.

Still left to decide is the order of the NBA Draft Lottery, which includes 13 of the 14 teams that did not advance to the play-offs. The Oklahoma City Thunder have two lottery spots in the upcoming draft after a previous trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. The lottery portion of the draft order will be decided on May 17.

The 2022 NBA Draft will take place at Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, home of the Nets.