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No Portland Trail Blazers on NBA All-Defensive team, but some players get votes

By Matt George Moore

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 30: Portland Trail Blazers Guard Damian Lillard (0), Portland Trail Blazers Center Jusuf Nurkic (27) and Portland Trail Blazers Forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) look on during an NBA game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers on January 30, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 30: Portland Trail Blazers Guard Damian Lillard (0), Portland Trail Blazers Center Jusuf Nurkic (27) and Portland Trail Blazers Forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) look on during an NBA game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers on January 30, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Nobody from the Portland Trail Blazers made the NBA’s All-Defensive first or second teams, although a few of the fellas got some votes.

The Portland Trail Blazers had one of the NBA’s best defensive units during the 2017-2018 season. In fact, they had the eighth-best defensive rating in the league, tying the Golden State Warriors at 104.2.

But a quality team defense wasn’t enough to put any of the individual Blazers on the NBA’s All-Defensive squads.

NBA All-Defensive First Team

According to the NBA, “a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters” select the All-Defensive teams, and it’s hard to argue with any of the choices, really.

Here’s the first team:

Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz)

Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans)

Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers)

Jrue Holiday (New Orleans Pelicans)

Robert Covington (Philadelphia 76ers)

Blazers fans are quite familiar with the tough defense of Holiday and Davis, who were instrumental in mucking up Portland’s offense and totally stifling Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in the first round of the playoffs. And Davis is an MVP finalist.

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Covington is interesting; his path to the defensive first team included a stint in the NBA’s G League. Oladipo, meanwhile, is up for Most Improved Player. And Gobert? Well, Rip City’s familiar with him, too. He’s a lean, long and versatile defender — one of the best in basketball.

NBA All-Defensive Second Team

The second team is just as formidable.

Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)

Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors)

Al Horford (Boston Celtics)

Dejounte Murray (San Antonio Spurs)

Jimmy Butler (Minnesota Timberwolves)

Portland Trail Blazers

The only mention of Portland in the list of All-Defensive players comes in the proverbial “others receiving votes” category. And none of the Blazers listed there received any first team votes.

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Al-Farouq Aminu received two votes, leading the way, I guess.

And both Lillard and Ed Davis received one vote each.

And that’s it.

Portland continues to be shut out of the NBA awards conversation. It would have certainly been nice for one of the Blazers to make the first or second team. But for now, Rip City’s gonna have to content itself with a defense that rated in the Top 10 despite not having a lockdown defender of the type that typically makes an All-Defensive squad.

And there’s always the future to look forward to.