Mikal Bridges named 1st Team All-Defense

On Friday evening, the NBA announced it’s All-Defense teams. The Phoenix Suns were well-represented, though forward Mikal Bridges was the only player awarded. He earned 193 of a possible 198 points, second only to Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, who earned all 198.

Bridges, a first-time honoree, averaged 1.2 steals and 0.4 blocks per contest, was second in defensive win shares for the season at 11.2, led the league in matchup difficulty per BBall Index, and most notably had a 7-steal game against Brooklyn in November.

Chris Paul was the only other Sun to receive first team votes, with 2. He also had 17 second team votes, enough to come in 4th among the “others receiving votes”. Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton each received one vote for second team as well.

Suns finished the regular season 3rd in defensive rating as a team, behind the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors. The Celtics (6) are the only team with more players on ballots than Phoenix’s 4.