Randy Ayers was fired by the struggling Philadelphia 76ers during his first season as their coach, and assistant Chris Ford was promoted to replace him Tuesday.
Philadelphia went 21-31 under Ayers and is 1 1/2 games behind the Boston Celtics for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
"Randy is a great friend, but a change was needed," 76ers general manager Billy King said. "Our goal is to put a team out there that plays hard every night ... A lot of things haven't gone well for us. It's not fair to point the finger at one person."
All but one of the 15 Eastern Conference teams (Atlanta) have changed coaches since the end of last season -- and now the 76ers have done it twice in that span.
Ayers took over after the resignation of Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, who is now with the Detroit Pistons.
Ayers seemingly lost control of the team. In recent weeks, All-Star guard Allen Iverson ripped his teammates for lacking heart and said changes had to be made. Glenn Robinson griped about his playing time, and other players also had complaints.
Ford joined the Sixers' coaching staff last summer after two seasons as the coach at Brandeis University. He led the Boston Celtics to consecutive Atlantic Division titles in 1991 and 1992, and he also coached the Bucks and Clippers.
Ford went 311-358 in nine seasons as an NBA head coach. His best season was his first, when the Celtics went 56-26 and reached the second round of the playoffs.
He won NBA championships with the Celtics as a player (1981) and an assistant coach (1984, 1986).
Lakers 98, Heat 83
In Miami, Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and Derek Fisher came off the bench to score eight of his season-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat Miami and post consecutive wins for the first time since mid-January.
O'Neal scored 19 of his points in the second half on 9-for-12 shooting, and the Lakers overcame an early 14-point deficit.
Timberwolves 96, Clippers 84
In Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett was one rebound short of a double-double in the first quarter and finished with 31 points and 16 rebounds to lead Minnesota over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Garnett set the tone with 14 points in the opening period as the Timberwolves built a lead as big as 17 in the first half.
Gary Trent scored 15 points, Sam Cassell had eight points and 12 assists, and Latrell Sprewell had 17 points for Minnesota.
Corey Maggette had a season-high 34 points for the Clippers.
Kings 124, Bucks 117
In Milwaukee, Peja Stojakovic scored 31 points and sank all four of his free throws in the final 20 seconds to help Sacramento hold off Milwaukee.
Mike Bibby scored 24 points and Miller 21 for the Kings. Mason and Toni Kukoc each scored 21 off the bench for Milwaukee.
Mavericks 105, Knicks 90
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Michael Finley added 25 points and 10 rebounds for the surging Dallas, which stopped New York's season-high five-game winning streak.
Rookie Josh Howard had 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals for the Dallas, which won for the 13th time 16 games.
Stephon Marbury's 24 points and 11 assists, Keith Van Horn's 20 points and nine rebounds, and Shandon Anderson's 19 points paced the Knicks in the matchup between the league's top two all-time most successful coaches.
New York's Lenny Wilkens has 1,301 wins; Dallas' Don Nelson is next with 1,129.
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