December 2015 – Page 13 – NBA Blog

David Blatt and Luke Walton named NBA Coaches of Month

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ David Blatt and the Golden State Warriors’ Luke Walton today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in October and November.

Blatt guided the Cavaliers to an Eastern Conference-best 13-4 (.765) record for games played in October and November. After dropping their season opener to the Chicago Bulls, the Cavaliers reeled off eight consecutive victories from Oct. 28 – Nov. 13. The defending conference champion Cavaliers own a 9-0 record at Quicken Loans Arena, and rank sixth in the NBA in both scoring (103.1 points) and team defense, limiting opponents to 96.5 points.

While filling in for head coach Steve Kerr (back surgery), Walton has led the defending champion Warriors to the best start in NBA history at 19-0. The Warriors lead the NBA in scoring at 115.3 points, and enjoy the largest point differential in the league at 15.4 points. Walton is in his second season on the Warriors’ staff, and previously served as a player development coach with the NBA D-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders during the 2013-14 season.

Other nominees for Coach of the Month were Charlotte’s Steve Clifford, Indiana’s Frank Vogel, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Doc Rivers, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, Oklahoma City’s Billy Donovan, Orlando’s Scott Skiles, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich and Toronto’s Dwane Casey.

NBA clarifies rules regarding coaching records

The NBA clarified today the league’s rules regarding coaching records: the head coach of record is credited with team wins and losses. Steve Kerr remains the head coach of record for the Golden State Warriors and is credited with those results.

Additionally, any team head coach, interim head coach or acting head coach is eligible to be recognized with league coaching awards. Therefore, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton is eligible for NBA Coach of the Month.

The winners for the season’s first month were announced after this clarification, and Walton did in fact win Coach of the Month for the Western conference, while Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt received the honor in the East.

Reggie Jackson fined for directing inappropriate language toward a fan

Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson has been fined $25,000 for directing inappropriate language toward a fan, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred during the Pistons’ 103-87 loss on the road to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 27 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

In the loss, Jackson, whose NBA career began with the Thunder, shot just 4-of-16 against his former team, finishing with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Warriors winning streak continues

The 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors set a franchise record with their first undefeated full calendar month following tonight’s 106-103 win at Utah, finishing the November slate with a perfect 16-0 mark. The Warriors are the sixth team in the NBA’s 70-year history to finish a month of at least 16 games with an undefeated record.

Golden State’s 16 wins in November also ties the franchise mark for most wins in a month, set last season when the Warriors posted a 16-2 ledger in March 2015. Golden State’s winning percentage this month tops the club’s previous record of .929 (13-1), set in January 1972 behind former Warriors guard Jim Barnett’s averages of 16.0 points, 5.6 assists and 4.0 rebounds on 50.3 percent shooting from the field.

With tonight’s win, the Warriors have extended the best start in NBA history by beginning the season with a 19-0 record. Dating back to 2014-15, the Warriors have won 23-straight regular-season games (19-straight this season, four-straight to end last season), extending a franchise-record streak and becoming the third team in NBA history to win 23 consecutive regular-season contests. The Warriors have also won nine-straight regular-season road games, the second-longest regular-season road winning streak in franchise history behind only the team’s record of 10-straight wins away from home set last season.

The Warriors, who posted a franchise-best record of 67-15 last season before capturing the 2015 NBA title, are now 86-15 (.851) in the regular season dating back to 2014-15 and 102-20 (.836) including the playoffs.

Al Jefferson out 2-3 weeks with calf injury

Charlotte Hornets center Al Jefferson underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) earlier today which confirmed the team’s initial diagnosis of a strained left calf. Jefferson, who suffered the injury in the first quarter of Sunday’s 87-82 win vs. Milwaukee, is expected to be sidelined for approximately two to three weeks.

Jefferson is averaging 13.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game this season. The 30-year-old has led the team in rebounding in five contests and has four double-doubles in 17 games. The Prentiss, Miss. native recorded 26 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks vs. Philadelphia on Nov. 20, becoming only the second player in the NBA this season to record at least 25 points, 10-or-more rebounds and five blocks in a game. Jefferson recorded a season-high 31 points (15-of-18 from the field) and grabbed nine rebounds at Dallas on Nov. 5.