GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Derek Fisher had just finished a long playing career when Phil Jackson picked him to coach the New York Knicks. Just 11/2 seasons later, Jackson decided he needed someone else.
Fisher was fired Monday, with his team having lost five straight and nine of 10 to fall well back in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
“It’s time for us to make a change, turn this team around and move forward and get some wins and keep going down the road we had started here at the beginning of the year,” Jackson said at the team’s practice facility.
Associate head coach Kurt Rambis was promoted to interim head coach at least through the rest of the season. Rambis, like Fisher an ex-Laker player and a former assistant under Jackson, went 56-145 in two seasons as Minnesota’s coach.
The Knicks have fallen to 23-31, dropping Fisher’s overall record to 40-96. Jackson hired Fisher in June 2014, just weeks after Fisher was done playing.
“It’s a huge transition from being a player to a coach at any point in time, let alone the season after you retire from playing. So it was a very difficult situation, regardless of where he coached,” Rambis said.
“This is a historic franchise and this is a franchise and a fan base that’s used to winning and he started the process, and it won’t be finished and it may not be finished with the next two coaches that are coming in, but I think he was laying the foundation of doing things the right way and turning this franchise around.”
Monday’s games
PACERS 89, LAKERS 87: Indiana’s Paul George scored all seven of his second-half points in the final 71 seconds and Monta Ellis made two free throws with 20.6 seconds left to seal a victory over Los Angeles in Indianapolis.
George finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. Myles Turner added 14 points and 13 rebounds on a night the Pacers (28-24) blew a 17-point second-half lead, then scored nine straight points for the win.
CAVALIERS 120, KINGS 100: LeBron James recorded his 40th career triple-double while Kyrie Irving matched his season high with 32 points and Cleveland rolled past Sacramento at home.
James scored 21 points to go along with 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his first triple-double of the season. He didn’t play the fourth quarter.
HOrnets 108, BULLS 91: Kemba Walker scored 30 points, and Charlotte led from the start and beat Chicago in Charlotte, North Carolina.
RAPTORS 103, PISTONS 89: Kyle Lowry scored 25 points, and Toronto went on an 11-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter to pull away for its 14th victory in 15 games, winning in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
CLIPPERS 98, 76ers 92: J.J. Redick had 23 points, including the tying 3-pointer late in regulation, and Jamal Crawford also scored 23 points to lead short-handed Los Angeles to an overtime victory over host Philadelphia.
NETS 105, NUGGETS 104: Joe Johnson’s 3-pointer at the buzzer lifted Brooklyn to a victory over Denver at New York.
PELICANS 116, TIMBERWOLVES 102: Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday scored 27 points apiece, and New Orleans snapped a four-game losing streak with a road win over Minnesota.
MAGIC 117, HAWKS 110: Nikola Vucevic scored 25 of his 28 points after intermission, and Orlando rallied from 20 points down to beat host Atlanta in overtime.
TRAIL BLAZERS 112, GRIZZLIES 106: C.J. McCullum scored six points in overtime as Portland won at Memphis.
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