Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer has been named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for February. It’s the second time Budenholzer has won Coach of the Month honors this season and the fifth time as the head coach of the Bucks.
In February, Budenholzer led the Bucks to the best record in the NBA at 10-1, which was tied for the third-best month in Bucks history and improved the team’s league-best record this season to 51-8. The Bucks outscored its opponents by an average of 15.2 points a game last month as it led the league in scoring (120.8 ppg) and gave up the fewest points on average (105.6 ppg). Nine of the Bucks’ 10 wins in February came by double digits, including three by 20+ points and the largest win of the season on Feb. 28 when the Bucks defeated the Thunder by 47 points.
In his second season as head coach of the Bucks, Budenholzer has led Milwaukee to the top record in the NBA at 52-8. The Bucks are outscoring their opponents by 12.7 points per game this season, currently the highest mark in league history, while ranking first in scoring (119.6), opponent field goal percentage (.410), net rating (12.1), defensive rating (101.1) and third in defensive rating (113.2).
This is the sixth Coach of the Month honor for Budenholzer in his career.
Giannis is Player of the Week
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Feb. 24 through March 1.
While leading the Bucks to a 4-0 record last week, Antetokounmpo averaged 28.5 points, 16.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 58.1% from the field and 41.7% from three. The highlight of the week came in Sunday’s win over the Charlotte Hornets where he scored 41 points, matched his season-high with 20 rebounds and dished out six assists, marking the first 40-point/20-rebound game of his career. This was also the first time this season a player has tallied 40 points, 20 rebounds and five assists in a game, and the first time by a Buck since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1974.
Overall, Giannis averaging a career-high 29.9 points (3rd in NBA), a career-high 13.8 rebounds (4th in NBA) and 5.8 assists per game while shooting 55.4% from the field.
This is the fourth time Antetokounmpo has been named Player of the Week this season and the 13th time in his career overall.