The Boston Celtics were well-represented when the NBA announced the All-Defensive Teams for the 2021-22 season. Both Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III were named to the All-Defensive Teams.
Smart was named to the All-Defensive First Team, as he garnered 99 first-team votes. Williams was named to the All-Defensive Second Team, as he received three first-team votes and 64 second-team votes.
For Smart, the newly-minted 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year, this was his third time being named to the All-Defensive team. All three times, Smart was named to the All-Defensive First Team.
This is Williams’ first nod for All-Defensive team honors.
Beyond Smart and Williams, Boston was highly regarded across the board by All-Defensive voters.
Jayson Tatum (one First Team vote, two Second Team votes), Jaylen Brown (one First Team vote), Al Horford (one First Team vote) and Derrick White (three Second Team votes) all also received votes.
The Celtics finished with the NBA’s best Defensive Rating for the 2021-22 season. They also finished first in several categories in the regular season including: opponent field goal percentage, opponent two-point field goal percentage (the only team in the NBA to hold teams under 50% shooting on two-point shots), opponent three-point field goal percentage and traditional opponent points per game.
