Sixers' Collins second to Thibodeau for coach of the year

Doug Collins led the 76ers to 14 more victories than they had a season ago and a playoff berth, but, more importantly, helped change the culture around an organization seemingly going in the wrong direction.

For that, Collins finished second in the voting for NBA Coach of the Year.

Another first-year coach, Chicago's Tom Thibodeau was the winner. Thibodeau totaled 475 points, including 76 first-place votes, from a panel of 119 sports writers and broadcasters. He received 29 second-place votes and eight for third.

Collins received 18 first-place votes, 29 seconds and eight thirds. San Antonio's Gregg Popovich was third with 117 points.

The Sixers went from 27 wins to 41 and earned the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They were eliminated in five games by the Miami Heat.

It is hard to argue with Thibodeau, who guided Chicago to a league-best 62-20 record, the most wins for the Bulls since 1997-98 (also 62).

The 62 wins represented a 21-game improvement from last season, the third-biggest turnaround in franchise history.

Thibodeau joined Paul Westphal (62 1992-93 Lakers) and Bill Russell (60, 1966-67 Celtics) as the only head coaches in NBA history who won 60 or more games in their first year as a head coach.