CLEVELAND – Cavaliers Head Coach David Blatt has been named the NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for games played in October and November, the NBA announced today.
This marks the second time Blatt has earned Coach of the Month accolades (March 2015) as he becomes the fourth coach in Cavaliers history to win the award more than once, joining Lenny Wilkens (three times), Mike Fratello (two times) and Mike Brown (five times). It also marks the 13th time in franchise history a coach has won the honor.
Blatt led the Cavaliers to the best record in the East during October/November at 13-4 (.765). During that span, the Cavs averaged an Eastern Conference-best 103.1 points and surrendered just 96.5 points, en route to posting the best differential in the conference at +6.6 points per game.
Cleveland also led the East in field goal percentage (.461) and three-pointers per game (10.2), while ranking second in defensive rebounds per game (35.9), third in assists per game (24.1) and fourth in total rebounds per game (46.5). Cleveland went a perfect 9-0 at Quicken Loans Arena, where it has now won 29 of its last 30 regular season games dating back to January 19, 2015.
The Cavaliers connected on a conference-best 52 more three-pointers than the opponent in October/November (174-122), while dishing out at least 20 assists in 15 of the 17 games, including nine games with 25 or more assists. The Wine and Gold topped 100 points on 10 occasions and 115 or more three times.
Eight players averaged at least 7.0 points per game. Defensively, the Cavs held their opponents to under 100 points nine times, including four games under 90 points, and went 6-2 against .500+ teams. Cleveland also won five games after facing double-digit deficits and outrebounded their opponent in 15 of 17 games for the second-best rebound differential in the NBA (+5.8).
Blatt is the first coach in Cavaliers history to win the award within the first month of a season. Golden State’s Luke Walton earned the honor in the Western Conference.
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