The National Basketball Association announced Monday that Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for games played in January. This marks the third time Nurse has earned the honour overall and second time this season. He was also named coach of the month for games played in October/November.
Nurse guided the Raptors to a 12-3 record last month, including an Eastern Conference-best 9-1 record on the road. Toronto ranked fourth in the conference averaging 113.1 points and third defensively holding opponents to 106.1 points (third in the East). The team also lead the East averaging 12.8 three-pointers per game and 10.0 steals.
Highlighting the month was a season-high 10 game winning streak (Jan. 15-31), which catapulted Toronto into second-place in the Eastern Conference standings. The Raptors won by an average margin of +11.0 points per game during the streak, which included six road contests. Toronto matched a franchise-record Jan. 17 vs. Washington by scoring 140 points.
A native of Carroll, Iowa, Nurse will coach Team Giannis at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago. He became the first coach to win both an NBA and NBA G League championship, after guiding Toronto to its first NBA Championship last spring.
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