Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra Named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month
It has been hard for Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to earn accolades during his career because he's had so many talented players.
On Tuesday, he received an award after helping the Heat overcome adversity. He was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Year for December.
Here's the official release from the team:
The NBA announced today that Miami Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for December. This marks the franchise-record ninth time Spoelstra has earned the monthly honor and the 16th time a HEAT coach has captured the award. Spoelstra most recently received the award in January 2018 after guiding his team to a 10-5 mark. Memphis Head Coach Taylor Jenkins captured the Western Conference Coach of the Month honors for December.
Spoelstra earned the current accolades after guiding Miami to a 10-5 (.667) record during the month of December, despite the Heat having players miss a combined 68 games due to injury and another 18 due to Health and Safety protocols. All-Star center Bam Adebayo did not appear in a game during the month and All-Star forward Jimmy Butler played just three-and-a-half games. Despite being shorthanded, Miami managed to post a 9-4 record against Eastern Conference opponents including a 26-point victory over current Eastern Conference frontrunner Chicago, a nine-point win over Milwaukee and a road win at Philadelphia. Miami closed the month on a season-high six-game home winning streak and a season-high-tying five-game overall winning streak.
During the month the Heat connected on 40.2 percent of their three-point field goal attempts and established a new franchise record for three-pointers in the month of December draining 229 shots (15.3 pg) from behind the arc. Included among the 229 triples were a franchise single-game record 22 against both Milwaukee (Dec. 8) and Indiana (Dec. 21).
Individually, with Miami’s 119-112 victory over Washington, Spoelstra passed Doug Moe (628) and moved into sole possession of 25th place on the NBA coaches all-time regular season wins list. Spoelstra currently has recorded 630 wins and trails Chuck Daly by eight for 24th place.
