The NBA announced today that Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash has been named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for the month of February.
Nash directed Brooklyn to an Eastern Conference-best 9-4 record in February, including a conference-best 5-2 road record. The Nets won eight straight games from Feb. 10 – 25, good for the franchise’s longest winning streak since the 2005-06 season, and posted a perfect 5-0 record on the team’s West Coast road trip, spanning from Feb. 13 at Golden State through Feb. 21 at L.A. Clippers, representing the longest undefeated road trip in franchise history.
The Nets defeated five teams currently in playoff position in February, with four of those victories coming on the road, including a three-game stretch that featured a rally from 24 points down to defeat the Suns, 128-124, in Phoenix (Feb. 16), a 109-98 road win over the Lakers (Feb. 18) and a 112-108 victory over the Clippers (Feb. 21). For the month, Brooklyn led the Eastern Conference in offensive rating (119.4), field goal percentage (50.1 percent), 3-point percentage (41.0 percent) and 3-pointers made per game (16.0), while ranking second in points per game (118.2).
In his first season as a head coach, Nash has led the Nets to a record of 23-13, just one half game out of first place in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn leads the league in points per game (120.8), offensive rating (117.9) and field goal percentage (49.8 percent), while ranking second in 3-point percentage (40.5 percent) and third in assists per game (27.1). The Nets boast the best road record in the East (10-7), which includes an active six-game road winning streak, matching the longest road win streak in franchise history. Brooklyn is also an East-best 12-4 versus Western Conference opponents, including a 9-0 record against Western Conference teams currently in playoff position.
The Nets are the league’s best team against teams with .500 or better records, posting a 15-5 mark against such opponents this season, and Brooklyn has the sixth-best record in the league overall, while registering a 6-1 record against the five teams ahead of them in the standings. With just one game remaining prior to the All-Star break, the Nets have already clinched their best record at the All-Star break since posting a 34-15 record in the 2002-03 season.
Nash is the fifth Nets head coach to earn Coach of the Month honors since the award was first presented in the 1982-83 season, and the first since Jason Kidd in March 2014. He joins Kidd (March 2014 and Jan. 2014) and Lawrence Frank (Feb. 2004) as the only Nets head coaches to earn the honor in their first season as a head coach.
Nash and James Harden, February’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month, are the fourth head coach/player duo in franchise history to earn Coach of the Month and Player of the Month honors in the same month, joining Frank and Vince Carter (April 2007), Frank and Kenyon Martin (Feb. 2004) and Byron Scott and Kidd (Dec. 2002).
| All-Time Nets Coach of the Month Honorees |
|---|
| Steve Nash – Feb. 2021 Jason Kidd – March 2014 Jason Kidd – Jan. 2014 Avery Johnson – Oct./Nov. 2012 Lawrence Frank – April 2007 Lawrence Frank – March 2006 Lawrence Frank – April 2005 Lawrence Frank – Feb. 2004 Byron Scott – Dec. 2003 Byron Scott – Dec. 2002 |
