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Brad Stevens’ first opportunity to become an NBA head coach was presented to him by Boston. Same goes for Tyronn Lue Authentic Joe Pavelski Jersey , with Cleveland. Same goes for Steve Kerr, with Golden State.

Hiring rookies worked out just fine for those clubs.

Phoenix and Atlanta are now hoping to reap the same benefits as the Celtics, Cavaliers and Warriors. The Suns introduced Igor Kokoskov on Monday, the same day that the Hawks welcomed fellow first-time head coach Lloyd Pierce to their franchise. And those moves followed Charlotte last week hiring James Borrego, whose only head-coaching experience was a 30-game interim stint.

There are plenty of established head coaches who don’t have jobs right now. But even with the market flooded with experienced coaches, the Suns, Hawks and Hornets went down roads less-traveled – and there’s still potential for more first-timers in the NBA head-coaching fraternity by the time next season opens.

”Rookie coach, international coach, foreign coach,” said Kokoskov, the first European-born coach to lead an NBA team. ”It really takes courage. It puts not pressure (on me) but expectations to prove that they were right.”

San Antonio assistant Becky Hammon has been on Milwaukee’s radar, as the Bucks look for their next full-time coach. And whenever she gets hired – many around the league believe it’s a question of when Sonny Milano Jersey , not if, Hammon gets her chance – she’ll be a first-timer in a whole new category, as the first woman to coach an NBA team.

Boston assistant Jay Larranaga was in the mix for the Charlotte job and will surely get more offers before long. Jerry Stackhouse, who has proven his mettle as the coach of Toronto’s G League club, is now a name that gets attached to just about every opening in the NBA as he waits for his first call to coach in the league where he starred as a player.

There doesn’t seem to interest in big names from the college ranks – like John Calipari or Tom Izzo. Experience still means plenty in the NBA, but timing and fit both seem far more important right now.

”I love challenges,” said Pierce, a longtime NBA assistant, most recently with Philadelphia. ”I think this is going to be a fun challenge. It’s not about the difficulty of the challenge, it’s about the excitement of it and I’m looking forward to the excitement of being here.”

A few of Pierce’s new players were there Monday when he was introduced to Atlanta. So was one of his now-former ones; Philadelphia’s Robert Covington attended to show support. And one of the league’s longtime stars raved about Pierce finally getting his chance.

”ATL, y’all got it right,” Miami guard Dwyane Wade tweeted after the Hawks announced their pick.

Borrego has waited a long time to make his own name.

He also waited a long time for a certain someone to learn his name.

Borrego went 10-20 as the interim coach in Orlando after Jacque Vaughn got fired in 2015. The rest of his NBA career has been made up of assistant stints in Orlando Authentic Harrison Smith Jersey , New Orleans and San Antonio – where when he debuted in 2003, Gregg Popovich hired someone whose name he didn’t exactly commit to memory.

”Called me Ray Romano,” Borrego said. ”Everybody loves Raymond, right?”

Popovich had zero games of head-coaching experience in the NBA before he took over in San Antonio. There have been more than 240 coaching moves in the league since, but the Spurs – winners of five titles under Popovich – remain under the same leadership. Erik Spoelstra was a first-timer when he became coach in Miami; he’s got two championship rings.

Brett Brown’s only head-coaching job has been with Philadelphia, Quin Snyder’s only one has been in Utah. They both won a playoff series this season. Billy Donovan had no NBA experience when Oklahoma City hired him three years ago; he’s averaged 50 wins per year since.

Kokoskov likened the change from assistant coach to head coach to the one where co-pilot becomes pilot.

You might think you’re ready, but you never really know until you’re at the controls.

”That’s why you’re coaching,” Kokoskov said. ”That’s the beauty of the job, basically waiting for this moment. You hope it’s going to happen.”

Their times have finally come.

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AP Sports Writers Bob Baum in Phoenix and Charles Odum in Atlanta contributed.

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OAKLAND, Calif. — The San Antonio Spurs hope to take a second step on what would be an unprecedented journey in the NBA playoffs when they once again face elimination in Game 5 against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

No team has ever won a series in which it trailed 3-0, but the Spurs were able to stay alive at home with a 103-90 win in Game 4 on Sunday.

It was the first time in the Gregg Popovich era that the Spurs have as much as won one game after losing the first three of a series. They were swept in a similar situation last season by the Warriors in the Western Conference finals.

For the third game in a row, the Spurs will be coached Tuesday by assistant Ettore Messina http://www.officialredwings.com/authentic-adidas-dylan-larkin-jersey , with Popovich having left the team after the death of his wife Erin last week.

The teams had different views as to what triggered the dramatic turnaround in Game 4. The Spurs had fallen behind at least 19 points in each of the first three games of the series but never trailed Sunday.

The Spurs cited improved shooting as one big difference. After connecting on a combined 20 of 83 (24 percent) on 3-pointers in the first three games of the series, San Antonio bombed in 15 of 28 (54 percent) in Game 4.

The result: A team that had been outscored 105-60 from beyond the arc for three games was able to turn the tables to the tune of 45-21 in the elimination game.

It was a team effort. LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, Dejounte Murray and Manu Ginobili, who had combined to make just three 3-pointers in the first three games, dropped in a total of 10 when it mattered most.

“It was a do-or-die game,” explained Aldridge, a predicament in which the Spurs also will find themselves in Game 5. “Make it happen or go home, and I think every guy played with that mentality, that focus, and we ended up getting it done.”

Meanwhile, the Warriors weren’t even getting shots time and again early in the loss. They committed seven turnovers in the game’s first 5 1/2 minutes Authentic Alexander Radulov Jersey , fell behind by as many as 10 points in the first quarter and never caught up.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr didn’t like seeing it live and enjoyed it even less when he got back to Oakland and watched it on tape.

“Lack of focus to start the game was really the key,” he noted. “More than energy, it was a sense of purpose. And I take a lot of the blame for that. I should know better as a coach of a team that’s been up 3-0 plenty times — you gotta know you’re going into the lion’s den …

“Looking back at the tape, I should have taken a timeout three minutes into the game and broken a clipboard. More than that, I should have had them prepared pregame for what was coming, and I didn’t feel like I did a good job at that.”

The Warriors had similar early-game issues at home during the regular season. It helped produce a record as good on the road (29-12) as at home (29-12).

Even with Sunday’s loss, the Warriors have beaten the Spurs in 11 of their last 13 meetings, including both regular-season and playoff games.

If the Warriors win Game 5, they would advance to face the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference semifinals.
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