The Detroit Pistons announced Wednesday that they were firing coach Monty Williams after one season. Williams signed a six-year, $78 million contract with the team last offseason, but that historic deal will end prematurely after a horrid 14-68 season.

“Decisions like these are difficult to make, and I want to thank Monty for his hard work and dedication,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a statement. “Coaching has many dynamic challenges that emerge during a season and Monty always handled those with grace. However, after reviewing our performance carefully and assessing our current position as an organization, we will chart a new course moving forward.”

Williams is reportedly not in the running for the open Lakers position and may take a break before pursuing another coaching job. After leaving the Suns in 2023, Williams was originally going to sit out last season to spend time with his wife, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The Pistons still owe him the $65 million remaining on his contract.

With his early dismissal from Detroit, Williams’ bizarre head coaching career in the NBA continues. Despite leading the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals in the 2021-22 season and winning Coach of the Year honors, he was fired in 2023.

Gores personally convinced Williams to take over in Detroit, but team ownership was also reportedly behind the decision to let him go. Williams had been discussing the team’s future with the front office since the season ended under the assumption that he would retain control next year.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed Wednesday that Williams was blindsided by the news.

“I’m told that he is not ready to necessarily just jump right into another job … he wants to coach again, but I think it’s pretty raw today,” Wojnarowski said.

The Pistons’ problems on the court go beyond a single bad season, as the team has flown through coaching regimes and does not possess the draft capital necessary to rebuild. Gores’ decision to sign Williams to an exorbitant contract followed almost immediately by the decision to fire him is a classic sign of a disorganized franchise. The way forward from here is profoundly unclear.

Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart was ejected Wednesday night after striking Philadelphia 76ers guard Patrick Beverley and earning a flagrant foul. The ejection did not prove too impactful as Detroit limped home to a 129-111 loss, their 21st straight this season.

Stewart fouled Beverley in the third quarter when he was defending and seemed to unintentionally drive the guard to the ground. Officials reviewed the play and ruled that it required a two-call foul, resulting in an immediate ejection. But while Stewart’s absence hurt Detroit, the team was already trailing and did not make a compelling comeback bid thereafter.

With the latest loss to the Sixers, the Pistons extended their losing streak to 21 games. They have not won since October 28 and are now tied with the 1979-80 and 1980-81 Pistons for the eighth-longest losing streak in NBA history. The all-time record in 28.

To say that the Pistons have been historically bad this season would not be an exaggeration, as the team currently holds a 2-22 record. Somewhat humorously, this means that they began the season with a 2-1 record. Detroit has effectively been eliminated from playoff contention for weeks and the postseason is still months away. Though the team is young and it was often predicted that players would go through growing pains, incompetency of this caliber is impossible to forecast.

“I don’t want anyone to be happy in this situation,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said after the game Wednesday. “I want to see an ornery locker room that’s tired — not just of losing, but tired of missing shots and tired of giving up 39-point quarters.”

Over time, the Pistons could eventually build an effective system around the likes of young stars Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson. But the 2023-24 season will likely be one to forget as the team tries to find its identity in the cellar of the Eastern Conference.

The Suns have unexpectedly joined the search for a new coach, along with the Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors, after they let go of Monty Williams last week.

This came not too long after falling short, four games to two, in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Denver Nuggets. The 51-year-old Williams took responsibility for the elimination loss, despite two of the team’s starters Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton being out of the lineup with injuries.

“I take that personally, not having our team ready to play in the biggest game of the year,” Williams said.

“Monty has been foundational to our success over the past four seasons,” James Jones, the Suns’ president of basketball operations and general manager, said of Williams.

Former NBA Champion Stephen Jackson expressed disapproval of the Williams situation on the podcast I Am Athlete.

“I didn’t think they was gonna get rid of the coach. I think he was the right coach for the job. But you know how they do,” Jackson said.

Williams coached the Suns for four seasons, winning about 63% of those contests, after being hired in May 2019. In that span of time, the Suns made the playoffs three out of those four years and even made an NBA Finals appearance in the 2020-2012 season. The very next year Williams was awarded the NBA Coach of the Year and coached Team LeBron to a three-point win in the All-Star Game.

With reports of a couple of different teams, including the Bucks, Pistons and Raptors, being curious about his future availability, it seems rather unlikely that Williams will end up too far from courtside. After being a large part of the Suns clawing out of the bottom half of the Western Conference, the former NBA small forward and Olympic gold medalist will now seek an opportunity somewhere else.

The Phoenix Suns took Game 1 at home behind a miraculous effort from Chris Paul, who scored 32 points and dished out nine assists. Giannis Antetkounmpo was not fully healthy and looked noticeably slower as he played through a leg injury that kept him out of the final few games of Milwaukee’s series against the Hawks. Game 2 tips off tonight in Phoenix. Let’s take a look at the spread, moneyline, total and more as we gear up for this pivotal matchup.

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• Bucks Odds: +5.5
• Suns Odds: -5.5
• Moneyline: +185 / -215
• Over / Under: 220.5
• Time: 9:05 p.m. EST
• TV Network: ABC

Considering they are coming off a 13-point victory, Monty Williams is unlikely to make many adjustments for Phoenix. The offense was brilliant in Game 1 as the Suns utilized the pick-and-roll. Deandre Ayton was phenomenal on both ends of the floor, finishing with 22 points and 19 rebounds. Devin Booker wasn’t that efficient on offense (1-of-8 on three-point shots), however, he did convert all 10 of his free throws and finished with 27 points. If the Suns get similar production out of their trio of stars in Game 2, they will be very difficult to stop.

While the Suns will likely head into Game 2 with the same gameplan they had in Game 1, the Milwaukee Bucks are going to make a ton of adjustments, specifically on the defensive side of the ball. Coach Mike Budenholzer should ask his players to stop switching assignments even when screens are set. The Bucks tried the switching plan in Game 1 and were absolutely burned. Paul and Booker torched Brook Lopez in one-on-one situations all night long. That can’t happen again if Milwaukee wants to even the series. The Bucks also have to remain physical, but not foul nearly as much as they did in Game 1. Phoenix sank 25-of-26 attempts from the charity stripe on Tuesday. The Bucks will have to find a way to play strong perimeter defense without sending the Suns to the line.

Offensively, the Bucks need to get to the foul line more themselves. They only had 16 attempts from the charity stripe in Game 1. Milwaukee also needs to do a much better job finishing inside the paint. According to NBA Advanced Stats, the Bucks shot just 13-for-24 (54.2%) within five feet of the rim in Game 1. During the regular season, they averaged 19.3 field goal makes on 29.3 field goal attempts (66.1%).

Overall, it will be very interesting to see the adjustments that each team makes ahead of Game 2. Obviously, the health of Antetkounmpo is critical for Milwaukee, but even if he is not feeling 100 percent healthy, we all know he will be on the court, which is valuable in and of itself. And don’t forget about Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday; they were phenomenal in the former MVP’s absence against the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Prediction: The Bucks cannot afford to fall two games down in this series. Budenholzer has one of the most brilliant minds in the NBA and I believe that he will find a way to make the necessary changes to not only cover the 5.5-point spread but also to steal Game 2 on the road.

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The Phoenix Suns pulled off one of the most memorable plays in NBA Playoffs history. It was perhaps the most clutch play in the history of the franchise considering the Suns have never won an NBA championship.

The Suns were down with 0.9 seconds left in Tuesday’s Game 2 against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers were up 103-102, and with barely any time left, and the Suns needed a quick play to steal the game. Phoenix head coach Monty Williams huddled his team during a timeout and devised a plan to win the game. The plan was for Jae Crowder to inbound an alley-oop pass to Deandre Ayton.

Once the timeout ended, it was time to put the plan into motion. As Crowder inbounded the pass, Devin Booker provided a key screen for Ayton, allowing the big man to get open and stuff the ball over Clippers’ center Ivica Zubac for the buzzer-beater victory. The play was beautifully executed to the Phoenix fans’ delight, as the Suns now lead the series 2-0.

“The celebration and reaction were a little shaky,” Ayton said. “Because I wasn’t sure what I did. I wasn’t sure if it counted.”

Suns point guard Chris Paul (currently sidelined due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols) complimented the play on Twitter. “Big time play call, Coach Mont,” Paul said.

The alley-oop game-winner ended a Clippers rally that was led by Paul George, who finished with 26 points. George made a layup with 31 seconds left to give the Clippers a 101-100 lead. On their next offensive possession, he converted a 22-footer to put Los Angeles up 103-102.

While they were up, George had an opportunity to increase the Clippers’ lead when he was sent to the free-throw line. George, who is an 85% free throw shooter, missed both free throws with 8.2 seconds left in the game. This gave the Suns hope, and they executed flawlessly down the stretch.

“Obviously, it was an opportunity that was missed,” George said after the game. “Pat [Beverly] made an unbelievable play that put me in the position to extend the lead. I am always confident at the free-throw line. I have always been very successful in clutch moments at the free-throw line. Tonight, I was just unsuccessful.”

The Suns were led by Cameron Payne, who finished with a career-high 29 points and nine assists. Ayton added 24 points and 14 rebounds, while Booker had 20 points.

“We just had no answer for Cameron Payne,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said. “He got downhill all night. His speed and his quickness really hurt us all night.”

Phoenix has won a franchise-record nine straight playoff games. Meanwhile, the Clippers are in a 2-0 hole for the third time in the playoffs. Los Angeles is still confident because they have come back from this deficit before. After losing the first two games in the first round against the Mavericks, the Clippers finished Dallas off in Game 7. In the following round, Los Angeles won four straight games against the top-seeded Jazz after losing the first two games on the road.

Phoenix did what they were supposed to by holding home-court advantage. The series heads to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday night. Without Kawhi Leonard, who is still out due to injury, the Clippers have an incredibly tough task ahead of them. However, it would be foolish to count them out after what they accomplished in the first two rounds of the postseason.

Chris Paul has been an integral facet of the Phoenix Suns‘ success this season and during their playoff run. However, his ability to continue contributing to their magical run is now in grave danger, as the star guard has entered into health and safety protocols due to COVID-19.

The only bright spot for Phoenix in this disheartening situation is that Paul is vaccinated, meaning that his timetable for return might be substantially shorter than players who are unvaccinated.

Head coach Monty Williams briefly discussed Paul’s absence, keeping a brief and optimistic tone. “We just have to wait and see what’s going to happen,” Williams told the media.

The primary question surrounds what exactly Paul has been diagnosed with. Players have been forced to miss weeks of competition for a positive COVID-19 test. Conversely, they have missed just days for contact tracing.

If Paul did test positive for COVID-19, he will undoubtedly want to see if he can return via the league’s test-based method of reinstatement (as opposed to using a time-based return, which requires waiting at least 10 days from the first positive test). The test-based path requires two negative PCR tests, each taken at least 24 hours apart from one another. Paul would still be required to undergo a cardiac screening once he returns to any sort of physical exertion, as per the NBA’s protocols.

Coach Williams has truly placed these obstacles in their proper context regarding the fight in the Suns as a team. “We’ve had obstacles all season long and gotten through a lot of stuff,” he said. “You look forward to these challenges, you embrace them, and you move forward.”

Paul’s next evaluation will be Saturday, which will likely determine if he will be allowed to suit up for any of his team’s Western Conference final games.

Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, who was recently named league MVP, was ejected after his hard foul on the Phoenix Suns’ Cameron Payne was ruled a flagrant foul 2. Jokic was ejected from Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinal in the third quarter with the Nuggets down by eight points. Denver would go on to lose the game, which eliminated them from the postseason.

“I wanted to change the rhythm of the game,” Jokic said. “I wanted to give us some energy, maybe change the whistle a little bit, so I wanted to make a hard foul. Did I hit him, did I not hit him? We don’t know. So I say sorry if I did because I did not want to injure him or hit him in the head on purpose,” explained Jokic.

The Nuggets remained resilient until the final whistle, however, they were unable to complete a comeback without their star center. An outstanding performance by Chris Paul inspired the Suns to complete the 4-0 sweep of the Nuggets.

“I just didn’t feel like it warranted a flagrant 2 ejection because he’s making a play on the ball,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “There’s marginal contact to Cameron Payne’s nose I believe. So I was shocked. I’m still a little bit shocked that they called a flagrant 2 and ejected the MVP on such a play.”

The foul was a result of Jokic’s frustration after he did not get a foul call on a shot. After a brief exchange with the referee, Jokic took his swipe at Payne.

Suns coach Monty Williams was also shocked by the call. “I didn’t really think it was anything malicious,” Williams said. “In those moments you have to regulate your emotions. That’s what we’ve been talking about all season long.”

On the broadcast, referee David Guthrie could be heard as he explained the decision, “After replay review, there is windup, impact and follow-through.” A flagrant foul 2 is defined as, “unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent.”

A scuffle unfolded after the foul as Suns star Devin Booker confronted Jokic and caused an altercation between the two teams. Booker was given a technical foul for the altercation.

“That’s all I said, just ‘What are you doing?'” Booker remarked. “It’s just an emotional play. I don’t think he meant harm by it. Just a frustration foul. It’s tough, just defending my teammate, that was it. I’ve played against the Joker multiple times. I know he’s not a malicious player.”

Jokic appeared to apologize to Payne after he was ejected.

After elimination, the Nuggets were left with no choice but to look forward to next season. “I’m not going to allow this series to define the season,” Malone said. “Hopefully next year we can find a way to stay healthy and be better and see where we can go.”

The Nuggets dealt with a devastating injury to key player Jamal Murray and still managed to finish third in the West and advance to the second round of the playoffs. Once Murray is healthy and paired with the current NBA MVP, Jokic, the Nuggets will have the potential to improve upon this impressive season in 2022.

In a surprising move, the New Orleans Pelicans fired Monty Williams following the team’s first round playoff exit. Despite taking over just a year after the Byron Scott controversy, he took the team to two playoff appearances: once in his first year as coach (2010-11) and again this past season.

And despite a 173-221 all-time record, the Pelicans team appeared to be on the rise and saw this past year as a stepping stone. However after just five seasons with this group and garnering the fondness of Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis, GM Dell Demps decided it was time to let the coach go.

On top of this, the GM announced that he personally sat down with Davis to discuss the matter, but would not disclose what was said in the meeting. In the past, the superstar has stated how “The whole team loves [Williams].”

Executive vice president Mickey Loomis added some clarity to the Pelicans’ decision: “Monty did a great job. He’s done some really good things for us, but going forward we just felt like we needed something different to get to the next level.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTVgurnMJSM

And reports from The Times-Picayune explain that Tom Thibodeau, if he departs from the Bulls following the playoffs, could be a top contender for the job: “League sources confirmed on Wednesday that the Pelicans are waiting to see if the Chicago Bulls and coach Tom Thibodeau are going to part ways. If Thibodeau is let go by the Bulls, he could possibly emerge as a candidate for the Pelicans’ job.”

Thibodeau was a top candidate for the vacant Pelicans job in 2010-11, but turned it down for the Bulls organization. Since joining the storied Chicago franchise, he has a 255-139 record and has never missed the postseason.

However, due to injuries and other unforeseeable circumstances, he has not had the greatest playoff record (23-27). On top of this, he has not been getting along with the head office and the riff could result in the two parties parting ways at the end of the season.

Now, he would be a great fit for New Orleans, if these reports are indeed true. At the same time, would this move appease Anthony Davis, a superstar that the Pelicans are desperately trying to keep. Just a few short years ago, Chris Paul forced the organization to trade him after a coaching change. Could history repeat itself?