The NBA teams with the two best records in the league just received even more praise.
The league named Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens and Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni as coaches of the month.
Brad Stevens of the @celtics (East) and Mike D'Antoni of the @HoustonRockets (West) have been named Coaches of the Month for October/November! pic.twitter.com/CC44XfH7m1
— NBA (@NBA) December 1, 2017
Stevens has led the Celtics to an NBA-best 19-4 record, despite losing Gordon Hayward to a leg injury in the first game of the season. D'Antoni's Rockets are 17-4, even though Chris Paul hasn't played much this season.
D'Antoni won top honors for the Coach of the Year Award last season.
While almost everyone who follows the NBA thinks it's a foregone conclusion that the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to end up in the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive season, the Rockets and Celtics have made it difficult to ignore them.
From a coaching standpoint, the league knows how good Stevens is. And although D'Antoni has been billed as only an offensive coach that all but ignores defense, the Rockets currently rank fifth in the league in defensive rating at 103.8 points allowed per 100 possessions, according to Basketball Reference.
These two teams are not flukes this season, and neither are their respective coaches. The league definitely has to be wary of the Rockets and Celtics throughout the season, and especially in the playoffs when the time comes.
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