Nick Nurse has joined Dwane Casey, Sam Mitchell and Lenny Wilkens as the only Toronto Raptors head coaches to be named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month.
Nurse, who took over from Casey following the 61-year-old's shocking dismissal during the summer, led the Raptors to an NBA best 19-4 start to the 2018-2019 season, ahead of their clash with the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.
Prior to Monday's match, the NBA announced that Nurse had been selected as the aforementioned for the months of October and November.
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Of course, it helped that Kawhi Leonard joined the Raptors before the start of the season. The former San Antonio Spurs star averaged 25.0 points last month under Nurse's tutelage, while the team ranked third in offense, with 117.6 points, and first in wins to start the season.
The likes of Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam both averaged career highs in points in November with - 16.8 and 14.8 respectively - while Kyle Lowry led the league with a career-best 10.3 assists per game.
"The National Basketball Association announced Monday that Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has been selected as Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for games played in October and November. He joins Dwane Casey, Sam Mitchell and Lenny Wilkens as the only coaches in franchise history to earn the honour."
The Raps pulled off some notable victories over the period, beating Eastern Conference rivals the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers in October. They rallied back from 17 points behind to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 122-114 late last month, also defeating the NBA champion Golden State Warriors in an incredible overtime game on November 29.
What this Means
This achievement also leaves the 51-year-old as the only rookie head coach to win the award since Luke Walton did so with the Warriors as an interim coach in 2015.
However, he couldn't commemorate his accolade capture with a win against Denver on Monday, with the Raptors falling 106-103 at home to the Western Conference side.
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