Nets fire head coach Hollins

They also discuss how several teams are battling for final playoff spots in both conferences, including the improving New York Knicks.

The Spurs’ LaMarcus Aldridge, with a game-high 25 points, shoots against Thaddeus Young of the Nets.

A day after owner Mikhail Prokhorov “reassigned” general manager Billy King and fired coach Lionel Hollins and hours after Prokhorov spoke to his team, the Nets fell well short of the elite opponent, 106-79, at Barclays Center.

King was hired as general manager in 2010 and in his five-plus seasons with the organisation, the team has managed a winning record twice – in 2012-13 and 2013-14. “I’m thankful to Billy and Mikhail and Dmitry [Razumov, Nets board of directors chairman] for the opportunity to have coached the Nets”, said Hollins to ESPN.com.

“I hope we’ll be back not as a playoff team, but as a championship contender”, Prokhorov said. “I think most of the people I’ve worked for have great passion for the game, loved the game, played it, so I wouldn’t say one guy stands out, and I think a lot of them impacted me throughout my coaching career”, said Brown. The most pressing drama of the second half was probably the scoreboard game where fans attempted to guess reserve Nets forward Sergei Karasev’s favorite food. The Spurs won the first game 102-75.

“It’s consistency”, Aldridge said. “It was just very easy”.

Brook Lopez scored 18 points and Joe Johnson had 16 in the Nets’ first game under interim coach Tony Brown. But no change could change things against the Spurs, the latest visiting team to win the crowd and the game in Brooklyn.

They dropped their fourth straight overall Saturday, 103-89 at Detroit heading into a three-game homestand. The San Antonio Spurs are 23-1 when they hit triple digits.

“I think that I want us to have a much firmer blueprint of what kind of players we’re looking for and why”, he said, later adding: “I think we need to have a sense of identity and style of play”.

Aldridge shot 12-for-17 from the floor and posted his 12th double-double. Other trends held true as the Nets fell behind by 10 after the first quarter, as they’ve been outscored 30.0-19.8 in the first 12 minutes during the skid.

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Additionally, Nets assistant coach Paul Westphal – who is close with Hollins – announced on Facebook that he would be departing from the team as well. “Brown becomes the Nets” fifth coach in the last five seasons. “He’s a good friend and a heck of a coach. Our business just sucks”.

“We’re playing in the best market in the world”, Prokhorov said Monday.