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Clippers' Paul, Jordan Named To All-Defensive First Team For 2nd Straight Year

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — It may have been another disappointing season for the Los Angeles Clippers, but it's not because of their defense.

Point guard Chris Paul and center DeAndre Jordan were both named Wednesday to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the second straight season, making the Clippers the only team with multiple players honored.

The selection marks Paul's fifth straight season as a member of the All-Defensive First Team and the second straight year for Jordan, who helped anchor the Clippers' top five defense in 2015-16.

Jordan averaged a career-high 10.3 defensive rebounds per game, leading the league in the category while finishing second in rebounds per game (13.8) and blocks per game (2.3) in the NBA.

"He's just affected the game for us - his energy, his activity and his voice," said head coach Doc Rivers. "He's the loudest player on our team with his talk. He's taken another step defensively this year, and it's been good for us."

Jordan became the Clippers' all-time leading rebounder in November, and he joined Ben Wallace as the only two players since 1983-84 with a defensive rebounding rate greater than 32.5 percent and a block rate greater than 5 percent in a single season among players who logged at least 2,000 minutes.

"We talk about it all the time, DJ covers up so many mistakes," Paul said earlier this year. "You know you've got DJ behind you, that's a pretty good insurance policy."

Rivers made defensive changes this season to keep Jordan closer to the basket, and while the learning curve took time, he said it paid off in the end. Once again, he said Jordan would've been his Defensive Player of the Year pick.

"People think, 'Man, he plays hard,'" Rivers said. "It's just a part of his skill package. There's a lot of guys that just couldn't do that, the way he plays, but he does it every night and we need it every night."

Paul and Jordan played significant roles in turning a middle-of-the-pack defense last year that allowed 103 points per 100 possessions into one of the league's elite defenses this year, allowing 100.9 points per possessions along with the Warriors and Celtics.

But despite the Clippers' defensive strides, the team once again came up short in the postseason after being eliminated 4-2 by the Portland Trail Blazers in their first-round playoff series.

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