NEW YORK – The Chicago Bulls’ Tom Thibodeau and the Denver Nuggets’ George Karl today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in January.

Thibodeau led Chicago to an Eastern Conference-best 12-4 (.750) record in January. At 28-17 on the season, Chicago stands third overall in the East, and they beat both teams ahead of them in January, registering a 96-89 road win over the Miami Heat on Jan. 4 and a 108-101 road win over the New York Knicks on Jan. 11. The Bulls surrendered 100 points just three times on the month, and held opponents to under 90 points nine times.

Karl led the Nuggets to a 12-3 (.800) record in January, tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the league. Karl, who passed Larry Brown for sixth place on the all-time coaching wins list by virtue of Denver’s 121-118 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 20, notched his 1,100^th career win three days later as the Nuggets topped the Houston Rockets 105-95 on Jan. 23. The Nuggets ended the month on a five-game winning streak.

Other nominees for Coach of the Month were Brooklyn’s P.J. Carlesimo, Milwaukee’s Jim Boylan, New Orleans’ Monty Williams and Oklahoma City’s Scott Brooks.