For the fourth time in his career, Tony Allen has been named to the NBA All-Defensive Team, as the Grizzlies guard was named to the first-team Wednesday.
Allen previously received First Team honors in 2012-13 and 2011-12 and a Second Team nod in 2010-11.
Allen (6-4, 213) averaged 8.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 2.05 steals in 26.2 minutes in 63 games (41 starts) for Memphis this season. The 33-year-old led the NBA in steals per 48 minutes (3.8), steal percentage (4.1) and defensive rating (94.9 points allowed per 100 possessions) among players with a minimum of 1,500 total minutes played. The Grizzlies' defensive rating was 8.7 points better with Allen on the floor (94.9) than with him off the floor (103.6). In addition, Allen ranked third in the league in steals per game, setting a new career high and leading the team in the category.
According to SportVU data, Allen held offensive players he defended to 6.9 percentage points lower than their overall average field goal shooting percentage.
As a team, Memphis ranked second in the NBA in points allowed per game (95.1), trailing only Utah (94.9), and finished fourth in the league in defensive rating (99.9) behind only Golden State (98.2), Milwaukee (99.3) and San Antonio (99.6). Memphis held 55 opponents under 100 points this season, the most in the NBA, and went 44-11 in those contests.
Allen has been recognized on the NBA All-Defensive Teams four times in his five seasons with the Grizzlies.
Joining Allen (207 points) on the NBA All-Defensive First Team are San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard (242 points), Golden State's Draymond Green (229 points) and the Los Angeles Clippers' DeAndre Jordan (187 points) and Chris Paul (170 points).
The NBA All-Defensive Second Team is comprised of New Orleans' Anthony Davis (155 points), Chicago's Jimmy Butler (132 points), Golden State's Andrew Bogut (102 points), Washington's John Wall (67 points) and San Antonio's Tim Duncan (64 points).
