Bob Weiss was fired as coach of the Seattle SuperSonics on Tuesday, with his NBA team struggling at 13-17 after having won its division last year.
Weiss, in his first year coaching the Sonics, was replaced by assistant Bob Hill, the team said.
Weiss was promoted from assistant to head coach on July 18 after Nate McMillan left for Portland. Weiss was a popular choice of All-Star players Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, but Seattle has yet to win at least half of its games this season. The Sonics won 52 games last year in capturing the Northwest Division.
The 63-year-old Weiss previously coached Atlanta, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers and has an overall record of 223-299. He was a Seattle assistant from 1994-2005.
Weiss is the third coach fired by Seattle during the season since 1992. In 2000, Paul Westphal was let go after a 6-9 start, replaced by McMillan. In 1992, K.C. Jones was fired after an 18-18 start and replaced by George Karl.
Rockets 123, Wizards 111
At Washington, Tracy McGrady matched his season high with 38 points, and the Houston Rockets broke a five-game losing streak with a rare offensive outburst, routing the Washington Wizards 123-111 Tuesday night.
The Rockets, averaging a league-low 87.6 points entering the game, set a season high for field goal percentage (55.1) and became the second team in as many games to set a new season high in points against the slumping Wizards.
McGrady made 11 of 24 field goals and 14 of 16 free throws. Juwan Howard added a season-high 24 points and Rafer Alston had season highs with 17 points and 10 assists for the Rockets, who hadn't scored more than 90 points in their previous seven games.
Gilbert Arenas scored 44 for the Wizards. Caron Butler added 20 and Antawn Jamison 17 for the Wizards, who were soundly booed by the home fans once the deficit hit 20 in the third quarter.
Pistons 108, Magic 99
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Chauncey Billups scored a career-high 37 points and Richard Hamilton added 25 as Detroit beat Orlando.
Detroit (25-4) overcame 22 points and 14 rebounds from Dwight Howard to win in its first game since having a nine-game winning streak snapped on Saturday at Cleveland. Billups was 9-of-15 from the floor and 15-of-17 from the line.
Tayshaun Prince added 12 points for the Pistons, and Ben Wallace had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Jameer Nelson scored 18 points for the Magic (12-16) and former Pistons star Grant Hill had 15, but Orlando had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Jazz 90, Lakers 80
At Salt Lake City, Andrei Kirilenko had 14 points, nine assists and seven blocks, and Utah beat Los Angeles to win its fifth straight and return to .500 for the first time since November.
Kirilenko also had six steals and eight rebounds as the Jazz swept the home-and-home series with the Lakers, who were without Kobe Bryant as he served a two-game suspension for throwing an elbow last week.
Deron Williams added 19 points, including seven straight as Utah pulled away in the final 5 minutes, and Mehmet Okur finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Lamar Odom led Los Angeles with 25 pointst.
76ers 111, Kings 98
At Sacramento, California, Chris Webber had 20 points and 16 rebounds against his former team, and Philadelphia snapped a nine-game losing streak against Sacramento.
It was Webber's second game in Sacramento since being traded by the Kings last February. He is still fondly remembered, evidenced by the standing ovation he received from the Arco Arena crowd when introduced.
Andre Iguodala scored 22 points in the 76ers' first victory over the Kings since Dec. 20, 2000.
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