The Brooklyn Nets started life after Steve Nash with a 108-99 defeat to the Miami Heat as under-fire Kyrie Irving struggled with four points on two-of-12 shooting on Tuesday.
The Nets announced earlier on Tuesday that Nash had been fired following their 2-5 start to the season, with assistant coach Jacque Vaughn taking charge in his absence.
Kevin Durant scored 32 points with nine rebounds for the Nets who led 58-52 at half-time before the Bulls charged home in the fourth quarter, led by Zach LaVine who had 20 of his 29 points in the final period.
LaVine top scored for the Bulls, including five-of-11 three-point shooting with four rebounds and five assists, while DeMar DeRozan added 20 points and center Nikola Vucevic hauled down 15 rebounds.
Irving, who has faced widespread backlash for sharing a film on social media with alleged anti-Semitic connotations, battled throughout with three turnovers while making none of his six three-point attempts.
The win improved the Bulls to 4-4, while the Nets fall to 2-6, with a 2-4 record at Barclays Center this season.
Golden State's road struggles continue
Reigning champions, the Golden State Warriors, slumped to their third straight defeat as Jimmy Butler fired late to lift the Miami Heat to a 116-109 win.
Butler, who finished with 23 points with six rebounds and eight assists, scored five straight points down the stretch to give the Heat the lead which they never surrendered.
Kyle Lowry moved past Jason Kidd into 12th on the all-time NBA three-pointers made list, scoring three triples in his 13 points.
Stephen Curry recorded his 10th regular-season triple-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists, but he could not prevent the Warriors' road woes (0-4) continuing, dropped to 3-5 overall.
Johnson shines as Suns burn
Cam Johnson drained seven three-pointers as the Phoenix Suns maintained their perfect home record this season and moved to 6-1 overall with a 116-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Johnson finished with 29 points, 21 coming from beyond the arc on seven-of-11 three-point shooting, while Devin Booker took a back seat with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Chris Paul had 14 points, 12 assists and a team-high eight rebounds for the Suns who clinched their fifth straight win. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards both had 24 points for the Timberwolves.
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue says Kawhi Leonard is "frustrated" with his ongoing knee issues following confirmation he will miss their next two road games.
Leonard has only played in two of the Clippers' seven games this NBA season upon returning from an ACL injury from the 2021 playoffs that saw him miss the entire 2021-22 campaign.
The two-time NBA Finals MVP has been struggling with stiffness in his surgically-repaired right knee and has missed his side's last four games.
Leonard will miss another two, having been ruled out of road games against the Houston Rockets (Wednesday) and the San Antonio Spurs (Friday) and his status is uncertain for Sunday's game against the Utah Jazz.
"He's frustrated," Lue said. "He wants to be out on the floor. To then not be on the floor, then now he can't travel, he wants to travel but obviously, that's not the right thing to do right now.
"The stiffness and what he's going through, just frustrated putting in all the work the last 15 months, and to get to this point, and not being where he wants to be right now physically.
"He's getting better, and that's the most important thing."
In Leonard's two games this season, he played both off the bench, putting in 21 minutes on both occasions, averaging 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists. The Clippers are 3-4 this season.
The Boston Celtics will have their eye on revenge when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
It will be the second meeting between the two sides this season, with both having made impressive starts.
The Celtics, last season's Eastern Conference champions, are 4-2 staring up at only the unbeaten Milwaukee Bucks and the 5-1 Cavs.
One of their two defeats came last week at TD Garden, as they suffered a 132-123 home loss to the Cavs in overtime.
Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert combined for 82 points in that victory for the Cavs, who will look to reaffirm their credentials as contenders in the East by backing up that win with another as they play hosts this time to the visiting Celtics.
After All-Star point guard Darius Garland left the first game of the season with an eye injury that is still keeping him out of action, Mitchell has been the catalyst for the Cavs' strong form, having been acquired in a trade with the Utah Jazz in the offseason.
Cleveland sent Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Ochai Agbaji and three first-round picks to the Jazz for the star shooting guard in a deal that also included two pick swaps.
Stopping Mitchell will be the priority for a Celtics team whose play on defense has slipped from the standards they set in their run to the Finals.
PIVOTAL PERFORMERS
Cleveland Cavaliers - Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell has proven worth the high price the Cavs paid for him to this point.
Only four players are averaging more than his 32.2 points per game, while Mitchell is shooting a red-hot, and possibly unsustainable 45.5 per cent from three-point range.
Bojan Bogdanovic (50.8 per cent) is the sole player who has attempted at least 50 threes to perform better from beyond the arc than Mitchell this season.
If he can get hot from deep in this one, it could spell trouble for a Boston team that saw him go for 41 on their home court last Friday.
Boston Celtics - Marcus Smart
Smart has long been the defensive heartbeat for the Celtics, but he could not help them contain Mitchell and LeVert in the previous meeting.
Indeed, he had a plus/minus of minus 26 against the Cavs, and his defensive rating – albeit a team stat – of 116.4 this season is the worst of his career.
Simply put, the Celtics need Smart to return to the form that saw him win Defensive Player of the Year last season.
KEY BATTLE - Preventing turnovers key for Celtics
The Cavs are averaging 20.5 points off turnovers per game, the fifth-most in the NBA.
Though Boston's 13.8 turnovers per game are the 10th-fewest in the league, the Celtics committed 19 in their home loss to Cleveland.
Given how effective the Cavs are at turning those opportunities into points, Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla should be preaching the importance of taking care of the ball especially hard this time around.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Cavs' victory last week continued a theme of recent success against Boston, with Cleveland having won four of their past six regular-season matchups with the Celtics.
Ime Udoka is the frontrunner to replace Steve Nash as the Brooklyn Nets head coach, according to reports.
The Nets parted with Nash on Tuesday after five defeats from their opening seven games of the season.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Nets and Nash came to a mutual decision to part ways, a day after Brooklyn had snapped a four-game losing streak by defeating the Indiana Pacers.
Wojnarowski subsequently claimed Udoka, who was previously part of Nash's staff in Brooklyn before he led the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals last season, is the Nets' top target and a deal could be struck by Thursday.
Udoka was suspended by the Celtics in September for an "improper" consensual relationship with a female staff member.
Should Udoka take the job, he will inherit a team packed with talent, though Nash had to deal with plenty of contentious issues during his two-year stint as Brooklyn coach.
Much of the controversy surrounded Kyrie Irving, whose refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19 meant he was unable to play in cities with vaccine mandates, including New York, in Nash's second season.
This campaign, Irving has been heavily criticised for his promotion of a documentary, which – according to Nets owner Joe Tsai – is "full of anti-Semitic disinformation".
The Brooklyn Nets have parted company with head coach Steve Nash.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Nets and Nash came to a mutual decision to part ways after a disappointing start to the 2022-23 season.
The Nets have won just two of their opening seven games, though they did beat the Indiana Pacers 116-109 on Monday.
Jacque Vaughn will be the Nets' acting head coach for Tuesday's game with the Chicago Bulls.
"We want to thank Steve for everything he brought to our franchise over the past two-plus seasons," said general manager Sean Marks.
"Since becoming head coach, Steve was faced with a number of unprecedented challenges, and we are sincerely grateful for his leadership, patience and humility throughout his tenure.
"Personally, this was an immensely difficult decision; however, after much deliberation and evaluation of how the season has begun, we agreed that a change is necessary at this time. We wish Steve, Lilla and their family all the best in the future."
A two-time MVP as a player and former consultant for the Golden State Warriors during two of their championship-winning seasons in 2017 and 2018, Nash took charge of the Nets in 2020.
He led them to the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2020-21, losing a seven-game series to eventual champions the Milwaukee Bucks.
A tumultuous 2021-22 campaign that saw James Harden traded to the Philadelphia 76ers ended with the Nets losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Boston Celtics in a sweep.
Despite having the chance to coach stars including Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving during his Nets tenure, Nash has had to navigate much controversy, predominantly surrounding Irving.
Irving's refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and his inability to play in cities with vaccine mandates, including New York, complicated Nash's second season in charge.
This season, Irving has attracted significant criticism and was condemned by Nets owner Joe Tsai for his promotion of a documentary film said to be "full of anti-Semitic disinformation".
Nash had said he hoped the Nets could "grow through this together", but they will now tackle this latest saga surrounding their star guard without him.
He leaves the Nets with a 94-67 regular-season record.
"Thank you, Brooklyn," Nash said in a statement on Twitter.
"A very heartfelt thanks to Joe and Clara Tsai along with Sean Marks for giving me the opportunity to coach the Brooklyn Nets. It was an amazing experience with many challenges that I'm incredibly grateful for.
"It was a pleasure to work with the players, performance team and front office everyday. I'm especially grateful to my coaching staff and video room who are a talented group with so much character and professionalism.
"Lastly, thanks to Brooklyn and the passionate fans who support this team. Family first and my family has found a home here and LOVES being a part of this beautiful community.
"I wish the Nets all the success in the world and the Nash's will be rooting for our team as they turn this season around."
Steve Nash said the Brooklyn Nets should look to "grow through this together" after a number of fans wore 'Fight Antisemitism' T-shirts in protest against Kyrie Irving's recent highlighting of a controversial film.
The 30-year-old Irving tweeted a link to 'Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America' last Thursday, with Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai condemning Irving for promoting the documentary film. Tsai alleged the film was "full of anti-Semitic disinformation".
The Nets and NBA released strong statements refusing to tolerate "hate speech", while coach Nash said the star guard had been spoken to prior to Saturday's 125-116 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Irving said at the weekend he would not "stand down" and pointed to the "historical complexities" of African heritage in America, but he subsequently deleted the social media post that sparked the uproar.
Nash spoke again on the matter after Monday's 116-109 win against the Pacers, which saw a group of seven Nets fans conspicuous at courtside in the protest T-shirts.
They were Orthodox Jews, the New York Post reported, quoting one of the fans, Aaron Jungreis, as saying the Nets "should not keep a guy like that around", with regard to Irving. The fan also told the newspaper the Nets should "have to discipline him in some way".
Looking at how Irving has handled the episode, Nash said: "That's an ongoing conversation. I haven't been a part of those internal talks, to be honest. I've been coaching, preparing the team. But I know they're looking at that constantly."
Erasing the controversial social media content appears to have been taken as a positive step, with Nash saying that "certainly helps".
The Nets coach added: "I just hope that we all grow through this together. There's always an opportunity for us to grow and understand new perspectives.
"I think the organisation is trying to take that stance that we communicate through this and all come out in a better position with more understanding and wanting to have empathy for every side of this debate and situation."
Irving last week wrote on Twitter: "I am an OMNIST and I meant no disrespect to anyone's religious beliefs. The 'Anti-Semitic' label that is being pushed on me is not justified and does not reflect the reality or truth I live in everyday. I embrace and want to learn from all walks of life and religions."
Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner took his opportunity on the podcast of ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski to lay out the case for why the Los Angeles Lakers should trade for him.
Turner, 26, led the NBA in blocked shots per game in the 2018-19, 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. His career average of 2.29 blocks per game is second among all active players, trailing only Lakers star Anthony Davis (2.34).
Of all the players to average at least two blocks per game across the past two seasons, only Memphis Grizzlies big-man Jaren Jackson Jr has also averaged at least one made three-pointer per game.
His unique combination of shot blocking and shooting at a relatively young age has made him an intriguing trade chip for the Pacers, who are well-and-truly in the middle of a total rebuild, led by young point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
There were reports in the offseason about a potential trade between the Lakers and Pacers that would have seen Russell Westbrook and the Lakers' first round draft picks in 2027 and 2029 sent to the Pacers for Turner and shooter Buddy Hield.
Speaking on the Woj Pod, Turner, who is in the last year of his contract, said he believes it is a deal the Pacers should revisit.
"Coming into a contract year as well, you can’t lose me for [nothing]," he said.
"[The Pacers] can’t have the notion of me playing out this year, they don’t trade me, and it’s like 'okay, say free agency comes around and I don’t re-sign here'. Let’s just be real – that’s just bad on the organisation.
"If they do trade me, and they do get assets for me coming along, they’re doing what’s best for them and doing what they’re paid to do. There’s no hard feelings with that."
He then laid out his case for why he believes he would be a strong fit, and be more appreciated with the Lakers.
"I know what I can provide for a team," he said. "My leadership, my shot-blocking, my three-point ability and just my ability to make plays out there on the floor.
"If I'm the Lakers, I take a very hard look at this with the position that you're in… but as far as pulling the trigger, I get paid to shoot. I'm not paid to make these calls, so I couldn't answer that.
"I just feel like here in the Midwest we don't get the love that I think we deserve... it doesn't get taken in on the national level.
"You are under the microscope out there in the West. When you are doing bad, you're going to hear about it. When you are doing great, you are going to get a lot of love, especially with the love that the Lakers get.
"I think that another aspect that is [appealing is] playing with greatness and playing under LeBron. I feel like he demands a certain level of excellency, especially at this point of his career. It's just one of those things; when you are out there, you got to perform.
"People are going to expect you to go out there and hold on to that legacy that the Lakers have built over the years."
The NBA trade deadline is not until February 9, but with the Lakers starting their season 1-5, they may act with urgency to turn things around.
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