Warriors: Steve Kerr praises team’s start, Luke Walton leadership

CHARLOTTE — Luke Walton was named the Western Conference Coach of the Month on Tuesday, an announcement from the NBA that might seem obvious were it not for the fact that the Warriors' interim head coach has yet to win a game. Sure, the Warriors are 19-0 — the best start in NBA history — But those victories are being awarded to head coach Steve Kerr, who is on a leave of absence while recovering from two offseason back surgeries (one of which resulted in a spinal-fluid leak). The NBA clarified its rules Tuesday, saying the head coach of record will continue to be credited with a team's wins and losses, but that any head coach, interim head coach or acting head coach is eligible to be recognized with league coaching awards. Kerr has said the policy of not awarding wins and losses to interim coaches was "ridiculous," but said he answered the question before knowing the history that created the precedent. Once he learned why the rule was created — stories like that of Don Nelson, who would be dropped from the No. 1 spot among the league's all-time winningest coaches, if the handful of games he missed were granted to an interim coach — Kerr rescinded his "ridiculous" comment. Walton said Kerr should be Coach of the Month, because the Warriors are running his system and feeding off the climate he created as the Warriors won the franchise's first title in 40 years last season. Walton, 35, whose meteoric rise took him from first-year assistant to lead assistant to interim head coach in a span of a couple of months, does run a lot of Kerr's schemes and relies on Kerr's core values for the team. "I was nervous, because this is uncharted territory for me as to how (the players) would respond to an assistant coach taking over — whether or not they would listen or whether or not they would work hard," said Walton, who had become a confidant to many of the players last season and is now having to have to more serious head-coach conversations. Walton has had to deal with Andrew Bogut missing six games with a concussion and then having to identify the correct time to put the center back in the starting lineup after playing him off the bench for four games. Walton had to find a starting small forward (Brandon Rush had 16 points Saturday), a backup power forward (time currently being split between Andre Iguodala, James Michael McAdoo, Marreese Speights and Jason Thompson) and a versatile defender for the team's small-ball unit (Ian Clark scored 12 second-quarter points Monday, and Shaun Livingston made his first three-pointer with the Warriors among nine points Monday). Walton says he hears it from fans when he is slow to call timeouts, choosing instead to have the players work through the adversity together. The interim head coach said he's willing to make adjustments on those principles, and any others, if the Warriors lose a string of games. Walton has guided the team to the NBA's best-ever start, and the Warriors own the third-longest win streak in league history (23, counting the final four from last season) — trailing only the 27 won by the Heat in 2013 and the Lakers' 33-game run in 1971-72. "I'm thrilled watching our play and to watch individual players succeed," Kerr said. Warriors point guard Stephen Curry has averaged 25.7 points on 44.4 percent three-point shooting, to go with 7.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds, in 10 games against his hometown Charlotte team. The Hornets have played six straight home games and haven't played since Sunday. The Warriors are on the second game of a seven-game road trip and are coming off a stretch during which they played three games in four nights and in three cities. Charlotte forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Warriors forward Harrison Barnes, both top-seven picks in the 2012 draft, won't play. Kidd-Gilchrist has missed the past 17 games after right shoulder surgery, and Barnes will have his sprained left ankle, which has cost him two games in a row, re-evaluated Sunday. The Warriors are 9-0 on the road, averaging a league-best 117.9 points per game away from Oracle Arena. Charlotte is tops in the league in limiting its turnovers to 12.6 per game and in limiting opponents' points off turnovers to 13.9. The Warriors rank among the bottom nine in both categories, committing 16.1 turnovers per game and allowing opponents to convert 18.1 points off the gaffes. Consecutive victories to open the season, which is an NBA record for best start.

Warriors: Steve Kerr praises team’s start, Luke Walton leadership

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