Warriors’ Kerr named coach of the year
Clippers lose Paul, Griffin for rest of playoffs
WASHINGTON, April 27, (RTRS): Steve Kerr joined the Warriors’ record run on a full-time basis in January, and after Golden State set the NBA single-season record with 73 wins, he was voted the 2015-16 Coach of the Year.
Kerr is expected to be given the award Wednesday before Game 5 of the firstround playoff series with the Houston Rockets.
Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers finished second. Portland has four new starters but is back in the playoffs. Stotts finished second with 37 first-place votes and 335 total points. Three-time winner Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs was third with 10 first-place votes and 166 total points.
Under Kerr and assistant coach Luke Walton, who served as interim head coach until Kerr returned from back-surgery complications in January, the Warriors (73-9) posted the best regular-season record in league history, eclipsing the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (72-10).
The defending NBA champions opened the season 24-0, the best start in league history, which pushed their overall regularseason winning streak to 28 games, the second longest of all time.
The Warriors set NBA records for single-season road victories (34) and consecutive home regular-season wins (54, including 18 victories to finish last season), and went 39-2 at Oracle Arena for the second season in a row. Golden State also became the first team to go through a season without losing two games in a row or losing to the same team twice.
The Warriors excelled at both ends of the court.
They established an NBA record with 1,077 three-pointers, part of a high-powered offense that posted the league’s highest scoring average (114.9 ppg) since the 1991-92 season and led the NBA in offensive rating (112.5 points per 100 possessions), field goal percentage (48.7), threepoint field goal percentage (41.6, second highest in NBA history) and assists (28.9 apg).
On defense, the Warriors tied for fourth in defensive rating, allowing 100.9 points per 100 possessions.
Kerr was often with the team but not on the bench while recovering from complications that arose following multiple back surgeries. Kerr had pain in his back, neck and most debilitating, constant headaches.
He missed the first 43 games and assistant coach Luke Walton helped guide the Warriors to a 24-0 start and 39-4 record before Kerr came back to the bench.
In his first year with the Warriors, Kerr won the NBA title in 2015 with Steph Curry taking MVP honors. Kerr was second last year in NBA coach of the year voting to Atlanta’s Mike Budenholzer.
The Los Angeles Clippers were hit with a double whammy on Tuesday.
Point guard Chris Paul underwent surgery on his broken hand in Los Angeles and will miss the rest of the NBA playoffs. The team also announced that forward Blake Griffin will be out for the remainder of the postseason with a quad injury.
In one day, the Clippers went from a team that saw a golden opportunity open in front of them when Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry went down with a knee injury to one that likely will have to fight just to reach the next round of the playoffs.
Paul left Monday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers in the third quarter and did not return. X-rays showed a fractured third metacarpal bone.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers said all the team can do at this point is to move on and prepare for Game Five in the Western Conference first-round series on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. The series is tied 2-2.
“We don’t have to be the best team. We just have to be the best team tomorrow,” Rivers said. “And then we have to figure out how to do it one more time.”
Griffin had 17 points and seven rebounds before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a sore left quad.
Paul, who finished with 16 points and four assists in 25 minutes, left the game midway through the third quarter. He was hurt while defending Gerald Henderson, reaching in an attempt to knock the ball away. “It changes things a lot -- more so for them,” Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard said of Paul’s injury. “Their best player goes down, the guy that makes your team go . ... It’s unfortunate for one of the better players in the league to go through an injury like that. You don’t wish that on anybody.
“It’s not like they have guys who can’t play. They still have a really good team. Our mindset has to be, nothing changes. We have to have the same approach defensively and continue to trust each other offensively.”
Dallas Mavericks star forward Dirk Nowitzki said he plans to be back with the club next season.
Nowitzki, who will turn 38 in June, has one opt-in season remaining on a threeyear deal.
He said the only thing that would provoke a change in mind would be if the Mavericks opted to go in a rebuilding direction.
The Washington Wizards officially announced the hiring of Scott Brooks as their new head coach.
Brooks, 50, didn’t coach last season after being fired by Oklahoma City. He went 338-207 with the Thunder and reached the NBA Finals in 2012.
Washington went 41-41 this season and missed the playoffs. The Wizards are hoping Brooks will turn into a perennial playoff participant.