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The Detroit Pistons’ Flip Saunders and the Dallas Mavericks’ Avery Johnson today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month for games played in November.

Saunders, in his first season as head coach of the Pistons, led the team to an 11-2 record, and became the first coach in Pistons history to start his tenure at 8-0. Detroit ranks first in scoring differential (7.8), has held nine of 13 opponents under 90 points and has averaged 113.6 points at home.

Johnson led the Mavericks to a 10-4 record for the month, which included wins over Phoenix, San Antonio, Detroit and Miami. The last time a team defeated all four conference finalists from the previous playoffs in the first month of the season was 1962. The Mavericks shot 46.6 percent from the field, averaged 99.3 points and held opponents to under 90 points five times.

Other nominees for the Coach of the Month award were Cleveland's Mike Brown, Golden State's Mike Montgomery, Los Angeles Clippers’ Mike Dunleavy, New Orleans/Oklahoma City's Byron Scott, Orlando's Brian Hill and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich.

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