NBA Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett led voting for the NBA All-Defensive Team announced here on Monday.
Bryant and Garnett, whose clubs could meet in next month's NBA Finals, each had 52 total points and 24 first-team votes (worth two points) in balloting by the league's 30 coaches, who could not vote for players on their own clubs.
It was the ninth All-Defensive nod for Garnett and the eighth for Bryant, who were joined on the first team by San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen and Denver center Marcus Camby.
Garnett, who was earlier named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, led the Celtics with 9.2 rebounds a game as Boston kept rivals to a league-low 41.9 percent shooting from the field, keeping foes to 90.3 points a game after allowing 99.2 a game last season.
Camby, last year's NBA Defensive Player of the Year, had 37 points. He led the league with 3.61 blocked shots a game and ranked second in rebounds with 13.1 a game to make the squad for the second time.
Duncan, who had 33 points, made the honor squad for the 11th year in a row while Bowen, who had 36 points, made the team for the eighth time.
Houston forward Shane Battier came the closest to ending Duncan's streak with 29 points, but settled for a spot on the second team along with Chris Paul of New Orleans, Dwight Howard of Orlando, Tayshaun Prince of Detroit and Phoenix's Raja Bell, who was a first-team choice last season.
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