Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla and Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue have been named the Coaches of the Month for December, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
Mazzulla, the Eastern Conference winner, led Boston to a 12-2 record last month. The Celtics have the best record in the NBA at 26-7.
While Mazzulla’s group has looked like a championship contender throughout its first 33 games, Lue’s Clippers had a rocky start after trading for James Harden, losing six straight at one point to hold a 3-7 record.
But L.A. has had an impressive turnaround over the past several weeks, going 18-5 over the past 23 games, including an 11-2 record in December. Harden shook off some early rust and has been playing at an extremely high level of late (20.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 9.4 APG, 1.4 SPG and 1.2 BPG on .483/.467/.883 shooting over the past 17 contests), and Kawhi Leonard has been dominant on both ends of the court.
According to the NBA (Twitter link), the other nominees in the Eastern Conference were J.B. Bickerstaff, Adrian Griffin, Nick Nurse and Erik Spoelstra, while Mark Daigneault, Chris Finch and Michael Malone were nominated in the West.
Doubt if this Coach of the Month award for our Celtics young & improving Head Coach Joe Mazzulla will silence or even slow down his critics. Once someone takes a position it’s extremely difficult to reverse.