Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award winner on Monday according to ESPN. The award is normally presented to centers, and in recent years power forwards. However on Monday, Smart, a native of Flower Mound, Texas, became only the sixth guard to be recognized with an award for preventing points from being scored against his team.
Smart, who is a point guard, followed shooting guard Sidney Moncrief of the Milwaukee Bucks (1983 and 1984), shooting guard Alvin Robertson of the San Antonio Spurs (1986), shooting guard Michael Cooper of the Los Angeles Lakers (1987), shooting guard Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls (1987), and point guard Gary Payton of the Seattle SuperSonics (1996). This past season, Smart had 228 defensive rebounds, 119 steals and 18 blocks. He played on a Celtics squad that gave up 104.5 points per game, the least number of points in the entire NBA.
In NBA playoff action on Monday, it was a memorable night for 76ers head coach Doc Rivers. He became only the fifth NBA coach ever to have 100 playoff wins when Philadelphia beat Toronto 112-97 to take a 2-0 first round series lead. He joins a list that includes Phil Jackson (229), Pat Riley (171), Gregg Popovich (170), and Larry Brown (100).
In other NBA playoff action, it was a spectacular game for Mavericks point guard Jalen Brunson. The native of New Brunswick, New Jersey became the first Dallas player in NBA playoff history to have 40 points in a playoff game without a turnover according to ESPN. Brunson had 41 points as the Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 110-104 to tie their series at one game apiece.
Meanwhile, it was a strong performance by Warriors point guard Stephen Curry. For the first time in his career (regular season or playoffs), Curry had 30 points or more in fewer than 25 minutes according to ESPN. He had 34 points in 22 minutes and 57 seconds as the Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets 126-106 to take a 2-0 series lead.
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