MIAMI, FL – The NBA announced today that Miami HEAT Head Coach Erik Spoelstra was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for February. This marks the franchise-record 10th time Spoelstra has earned the monthly honor and the 18th time a HEAT coach has captured the award.
Spoelstra earned the honor after guiding Miami to an 8-3 (.727) record, including 6-1 on the road, during the month of February, despite the HEAT starting eight different lineups in those 11 contests due to injuries. Miami held opponents to only 101.7 points per game in the month, the lowest average in the NBA, while also holding opponents to under their season scoring averages in every game, doing so by an average of -14.3 points per game.
The HEAT defense also held opponents to just 32.9 percent from three-point range, the second-lowest, and 44.5 percent from the field, the third-lowest, while forcing opponents into 14.6 turnovers per game, the third-most. Miami held opponents to under 100 points four times in the month, doing so vs. Orlando (95) on February 6, at Milwaukee (97) on February 13, at New Orleans (95) on February 23 and at Portland (96) on February 27, improving to a perfect 9-0 this season when holding opponents under the 100-point mark.
For the season, Miami has used 31 different starting lineups, already tying the most during a single-season in team history while 17 different players have registered a start, tying the third-most. The HEAT has recorded 18 road wins so far this season, tying the fourth-most in the league. Additionally, Coach Spoelstra has 847 career wins (738 regular season & 109 postseason), all with Miami, marking the fourth-most by a head coach with a single franchise in NBA history.