NEW YORK, Dec. 1 – The Detroit Pistons’ Flip Saunders and the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in December.

Saunders

Popovich

Saunders led the Pistons to a 13-2 record, establishing a new franchise mark for most wins in December. The Pistons, averaging 99.8 points this month, held a nine-game win streak from Dec. 14 to Dec. 29, including wins over Miami, San Antonio and Memphis. Saunders, also awarded the Coach of the Month honor for November, became only the second coach in NBA history to start a season 24-3 in his first year as head coach of a new team (Los Angeles Lakers head coach Bill Sharman went 39-3 in 1971-72).

Popovich led the Spurs to a 13-4 month, holding opponents to a league-low .419 shooting. The Spurs, maintaining the best record in the Western Conference, ranked second in the league in field goal percentage (.480) and held opponents to 89.6 points per game (third in the league) in December.

Other nominees for the Coach of the Month award were Dallas’ Avery Johnson, Milwaukee’s Terry Stotts, New Jersey’s Lawrence Frank, Phoenix’s Mike D’Antoni and Toronto’s Sam Mitchell.