Celtics' Rivers, Spurs' Popovich named Coaches of the Month

NEW YORK, Dec. 1, 2010 -- The Boston Celtics' Doc Rivers and the San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in October and November.

Rivers guided the Celtics to a 13-4 (.765) record, tying Orlando for the best in the Eastern Conference. Boston went 7-1 at home, including a 7-0 mark against Eastern Conference teams. With their .504 field goal percentage, the Celtics are the only team in the NBA shooting 50 percent or better from the field, while also ranking first in the NBA in assists per game (26.5) and first in the Eastern Conference in points per game differential (+7.9).

Popovich led the Spurs to an NBA-best 15-2 (.882) record, the best start in franchise history, including 12 straight wins in November. San Antonio is the only team to win all of its road games so far, with key wins at Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Utah and New Orleans. While the Spurs' 107.8 points per game rank third in the NBA, their +9.0 differential leads the league.

Other nominees for Coach of the Month were New Orleans' Monty Williams, New York's Mike D'Antoni, Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks, Orlando's Stan Van Gundy and Utah's Jerry Sloan.