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NBA announces the 2018-19 all-defensive teams

By Matt Loede
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert is fouled by Knicks guard J.R. Smith in a game in New York. Gobert was chosen as one of the five players selected to the 2018-19 NBA All-Defensive team. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert is fouled by Knicks guard J.R. Smith in a game in New York. Gobert was chosen as one of the five players selected to the 2018-19 NBA All-Defensive team. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

May 22 (UPI) -- Three of the four finalists for the 2018-19 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award were among those named Wednesday to the 2018-19 NBA All-Defensive First Team.

Those three players are Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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Gobert earned 196 points, George was second with 195 points and Antetokounmpo third with 193 points.

The two other two players on the first defensive team are guards Marcus Smart from the Boston Celtics and Eric Bledsoe from the Milwaukee Bucks.

It is the first time either Smart or Bledsoe was named to an NBA All-Defensive Team.

Named to the second team were New Orleans guard Jrue Holiday, Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard.

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The Defensive Player of the Year Award will be announced at the league's third annual awards show June 24.

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