Popovich Is Coach of Year

Gregg Popovich won the NBA coach-of-the-year award Monday after leading the San Antonio Spurs to the league’s best record.

Popovich, the first Spur coach to win the award, received 40 out of a possible 121 first-place votes from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Golden State Warrior Coach Eric Musselman was second with 26 first-place votes, and Utah Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan was third with 18.

The Spurs went 60-22 and won their third straight Midwest Division title under Popovich, who became coach in 1996.

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Portland Trail Blazer forward Rasheed Wallace was fined $30,000 for two violations of the NBA’s media interview access policies.

Wallace was fined $10,000 for failing to cooperate during the interview session after Portland’s 98-79 victory over Dallas on Sunday. He was given an additional fine of $20,000 for not participating in Monday’s interview period after practice.

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Sacramento guard Bobby Jackson was fined $7,500 by the NBA for publicly criticizing the officials after the Kings’ loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday.

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The NBA broke ties among eight teams in preparation for the June draft, with the Denver Nuggets being guaranteed at least the fourth overall choice.

Both Denver and Cleveland have 225 chances out of 1,000 to get in the top three spots in the lottery.

Among teams that made the playoffs and won’t be involved in the lottery, Portland won the tiebreaker with the Lakers and Detroit and will pick 23rd. The Lakers then beat the Pistons in another tiebreaker to pick 24th.