Kenny Atkinson is the NBA year -round coach during his first year of work.
On Monday, Cleveland head coach was appointed winner of the prize after leading the riders at first place in the Eastern Conference with a 64-18 file. Atkinson beat the man he replaced for the price with 59 of the 100 possible votes for first place.
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Pistons' head coach, JB Bickerstaff, finished second in the vote (31 votes in first place) after conducting a reversal in Strait of the worst NBA campaign record at 44-38 and a seeded n ° 6 in the east in his first year of work. IME UDOKA from the Houston Rockets finished third (seven first -place votes).
Atkinson, 57, took the post of riders the last season after three season on the Golden State bench as an assistant of the Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. The work is his second as a head coach after a four-season race with the Brooklyn Nets from 2016 to 20.
Atkinson replaced Bickerstaff, who Cavaliers drew the last off -season After a 48-34 campaign which ended with the second consecutive appearance of Cleveland. Despite the continuous progress of less than five years of bickerstaff leadership which ended with a defeat in the second round against the possible champion Boston Celtics, the management of riders considered it good to change.
Kenny Atkinson led the riders to the head of n ° 1 in the East and the second best record in the history of the franchise with the same nucleus which won 48 games the previous season. (Images of David Richard-Imagn)
(USA Today Sports via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
Atkinson delivered in his first season when he supervised an improvement of 16 victories in a Cavaliers campaign which achieved a start of 15-0, tied for the second best in the history of the NBA. Cleveland has never abandoned East control and ended the season with a three -game advance on the Celtics for the seeded n ° 1 in the playoffs.
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The riders made this progress during the previous season with the same nucleus with Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Under Atkinson, Garland returned in the form of stars after an absence of two years.
Mobley made the jump to his first appearance to the stars in his fourth NBA season en route to win the defensive player of the year. Mitchell was appointed All-Star for a sixth consecutive season.
The end result was a team that finished First in the NBA in offensive note And Eighth of the League in defensive note. The record of 64-18 is the second best in the history of the franchise, dragging only the cavs led by LeBron James from 2008-2009 which finished at 66-16.
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The riders swept Miami's warmth in the first round of the playoff series via a combined margin of 122 points The biggest in a single series in the history of the NBA. Cleveland Loss match 1 of his second round series At home on Sunday evening at the Indiana Pacers while Garland looked injured.
Garland missed his fourth consecutive match with a trampled toe and is questionable for Match 2 on Tuesday. Mobley and rescue attack by'andre Hunter are also questionable for match 2 with injuries supported in match 1.
