Boston Celtics: 2 players who should be Defensive Player of the Year candidates

The Boston Celtics magical 2021-22 season continues. With another dominant win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, the C’s have now won five straight games, and continue to move their way up the Eastern Conference standings.

The dominance asserted during these wins has been quite impressive. Over the last five games, Boston has built up at least a 24 point lead at one point or another in each of those wins. These wins aren’t coming against light competition either. They have managed to do this against high quality competition such as the Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, and the aforementioned Jazz.

It’s been a blend of the Celtics offensive game finally matching the heights that their defensive game has been at all season long. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are good for 25+ points a night at this point, and the rest of the rotation features players all capable of chipping in at least 10-15 points on any given night. It’s really just a matter of who ends up with the hot hand.

While it’s been great to see the team scoring consistently, the C’s defensive efforts continue to remain a hot topic of conversation. Their defense has been fantastic all season long, and while it’s largely been a team effort, there are two players in particular that have stood out, and are beginning to see their names mentioned in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. Let’s look at those two players, and review their DPOY cases as the end of the regular season nears.