Nets owner first considered firing coach Lionel Hollins over a month ago

Prokhorov said he has learned two major lessons since coming to Brooklyn in 2010, and the first is that NY is “another animal”.

“San Antonio is the golden standard for the NBA”, Nets interim head coach Tony Brown said. That’s why we need players and a coach who can resist with this pressure, who can survive.

On what Prokhorov stressed to him most, Brown said, “I would just say this, I think that he wants to see these other assets on this roster play, no particular preference”.

Sources claim the Nets had been considering replacing both King and Hollins and had been on the lookout for potential replacements. Aldridge had 25 points as the Spurs defeated the Nets 106-79.

The Nets job could be an interesting situation: they have $45.37 million in salary cap commitments next season, giving them what could be $44 million in cap space this summer. However, all others struggled from the field as Thaddeus Young, Donald Sloan and Wayne Ellington combined to shoot just 8-of-22 from the field.

LaMarcus Aldridge has been on fire over the last five games for the Spurs, averaging 19.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks.

The Spurs are now 33-6 on the season and will return to the court tomorrow when they travel to Detroit to face the much-improved Pistons at 6:30 p.m. inside the Palace of Auburn Hills. Are the Spurs giving up too many points?

Fans cheered loudest for 7-foot-3 Serbian Boban Marjanovic, who finished with 13 points and was on the floor in the final seconds when a “Go Spurs Go!” chant broke out.

Only a day before Brown was shaking up the lineup, he had no idea he’d be taking over as coach.

The Brooklyn Nets fired head coach Lionel Hollins and demoted long-time GM Billy King, and now must handle their hiring process in a different way.

“[Sunday] was a little bittersweet”, Brown said. “He’s a good friend and a heck of a coach”.

The NBA trade deadline is February 18, so there is still a lot of time for things to shake themselves loose, but it seems we now have a few motivated sellers and that’s generally the precursor to deals actually getting done.

If Prokhorov is ashamed about the reality of what his bold moves brought Brooklyn, he did not show it. Nor did he show a commitment to a more patient, measured approach. And when you get fired, sometimes the phone doesn’t ring. San Antonio also posted it league-leading 14th win by at least 20 points while extending its winning streak to eight games. Stephen Curry was one of the main culprits, going just 4 for 11 from long range.

This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams.