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David Blatt, Head Coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Steve Kerr, Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors were named the Coach of the Month of March for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference respectively, the NBA announced today. With this most recent honor, Kerr becomes the first Warriors Head Coach since Don Nelson to win the Coach of the Month award twice in the same season.
The Warriors finished March with a league-best 16-2 record, eclipsing the previous record for most win in a month of 15 (Jan 1960). Golden State registered a number of records this month: they won their first Pacific Division title since clinching back to back division title from 1975-1977, they registered a franchise record for road wins (27) and overall (61).
The last time this Bay Area franchise locked the best seed in the NBA and the Division title was way back in 1975. The team is currently riding a 10 game winning streak, marking the first time in franchise history that the team has two double digits win streaks for the season (16 from Nov 13th to Dec 14th).
Playing at Oracle Arena, home of the Warriors has always been the team’s strength and that can be seen with their perfect 10-0 record at home in March.
To top it all off, the team’s great month of March puts Steve Kerr ever closer to having the highest winning percentage as a debut Head Coach ever. The team’s current win percentage of .827 (61-13) is better than what Red Auerbach’s campaign with the Washington Capitals (.817).
Kerr joins Paul Westphal (Phoenix Suns 1992-93) and Tom Thibodeau (Chicago Bulls 2010-11) to reach the 60 win plateau in their debut season as a Head Coach.
The Cleveland Cavaliers might have had an average record in March by their standards of 11-4 but it was enough to be the best in the East and thanks to that, David Blatt became the fifth Head Coach in franchise history to be honored with the Coach of the Month award.
The team began the season slowly, struggling to find rhythm, but a series of trades in January has led to the team having the best record in the league since Jan 15th of 29-7.
The month of March saw the Cavs continue to ride their third longest franchise home win streak ever with 14 since Jan 19th. The team booked a Playoff spot for the first time in four years with a win on March 20th over the Indiana Pacers and are currently nursing a 2.5 game lead over the Chicago Bulls for the Central Division title, which would also be their first since 2010.
They have won seven of the fifteen games in March by points differential in double figures.
