The Boston Celtics have the number one defense in the league, leading Grant Williams to lobby for either Robert Williams III or Marcus Smart to win DPOY.
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As said by Bill Simmons, this 2021-22 Boston Celtics roster has had perhaps the greatest in-season turnaround of any Celts season he’s witnessed. The year started off with Marcus Smart calling out Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for their isolation style of play and now the message was heard loud and clear by the Jays.
The Celtics have been carrying forth with Ime Udoka’s vision of team basketball that incorporates player movement along with ball movement. Their offense doesn’t stagnate nearly as much as it used to and has resulted in a good amount of movement on the defensive end of the floor as well.
Also read: Is LeBron James playing tonight vs the Houston Rockets? Lakers release four-time MVP’s injury report
Currently, the Celts are the number one rated defense in the NBA with a defensive rating of 105.6. this number is merely 0.1 better than the second best defense, the Golden State Warriors. The Dubs are in this conversation solely due to their stellar November-December runs where they had a DRTG of less than 100.
With Boston being as good as they are defensively, Grant Williams wants the DPOY race to have at least one of, if not both, Marcus Smart or Robert Williams III on it.
Grant Williams wants Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III to be shown love for DPOY.
Marcus Smart has been a menace on the defensive end of the floor for as long as anyone can remember. He’s the rare breed of perimeter who pokes at the ball for steals, keeps his man in front of him, and dives for the ball. Positive hustle defenders on the perimeter are quite the asset to have and Smart is elite at it.
The idea of Robert Williams III to be a monster on the defensive end of the floor as a switchable bog from 1-5 was one that was too good to be true. Actually np, that’s something you could’ve said last season. This season, Time Lord has taken positive steps into becoming just that.
Grant Williams, who’s come into his own as a floor spacer, sees these two defensive savants on his team and tweeted out saying they need to be in the discussion for DPOY this season.
Starting the conversation, one of Robert Williams III or Marcus Smart should be DPOY!! League’s Number 1 Defense and I don’t think if you as any player in the NBA they would say they want either of those guys matched on them🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽
— Grant Williams (@Grant2Will) March 8, 2022
as of February 15th, Giannis has firmly held the number one spot on the DPOY ladder with Mikal Bridges following closely. Rob Williams was shown love for the award in the top 8 as of that same date but not Marcus Smart.
