Boston Celtics point guard Marcus Smart finished fifth in the league's Rookie of the Year voting.

Smart received one second-place vote and three third-place votes for six total points among the 130 ballots cast by sports writers and broadcasters. Minnesota's Andrew Wiggins won the award with 604 total points. Chicago's Nikola Mirotic (335 points), Philadelphia's Nerlens Noel (141) and Orlando's Elfrid Payton (79) also finished ahead of Smart.

Two of Smart's four total votes came from local broadcasters (Celtics radio voice Cedric Maxwell had Smart second to Mirotic, while TV play-by-play man Mike Gorman placed Smart third on his ballot behind Wiggins and Noel).

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge lauded Smart's improvements during his season-ending news conference on Thursday.

"I think Marcus, he’s a great instinctive defender, but I think that he picked up the schemes and became an outstanding defender, got even better than he was immediately," Ainge said. "Offensively, I think he’s come a long way, too. I think that he’s getting more and more confident in his shooting and he’s unafraid of the moments. I think that everybody can see how the bigger the moment, the more he lights up."

Smart, the No. 6 pick in last year's draft, averaged 7.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals over 27 minutes per game. Smart started 38 games, most in the second half of the season while aiding Boston's playoff surge, and appeared in 67 games overall.

Smart's defense proved to be NBA ready, and the Celtics believe that he will eventually be an All-NBA defender at the guard position. He needs to work on his offensive game after shooting just 36.7 percent from the field this season, including 33.5 percent beyond the 3-point arc (Smart's field goal percentage did jump to 48.3 percent in the playoffs, even as he struggled from beyond the arc).

Ainge said the team will give Smart extended minutes at the point guard position this summer hoping to hone his skills there. Boston often used Evan Turner in a point forward role while starting alongside Smart and limiting the rookie's ballhandling duties.