NBA

Mavs fire Johnson after another playoff exit

Dallas is 23-24 in the playoffs under him, including 3-12 since '06 finals loss

Dave Martin / AP

Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson walks off the court following the Mavericks' 99-94 loss to the New Orleans Hornets in Game 5 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Tuesday.

“You don’t basically want to go back to the Nellie days where we just run and gun and have fun, and you get scored on every time down,” Nowitzki said.

Nelson turned the Mavericks from lottery regulars to playoff regulars, then to title contenders. He just couldn’t get them to the finals.

Johnson did.

A championship-winning point guard for San Antonio during his long career, Johnson became Dallas’ coach-in-waiting in 2004-05. His wait ended just a few months later. He finished that regular season 16-2, then won his first playoff series. Then, in his first full season in charge, the Mavericks reached the NBA finals and Johnson was named coach of the year.

When the Heat won four straight after losing the first two, there was talk of Pat Riley outcoaching Johnson and of Johnson panicking during the series by switching hotels in Miami. More talk of getting outcoached came up after the 67-win season went down in flames to, of all people, Nelson.

The knock this time was mostly over his use of Kidd. He and Cuban even had a shouting match in the coach’s office following a home loss to the Lakers.

Johnson’s rift with his club was apparent during the five-game series against the New Orleans Hornets.

Down 2-0, he said to blame him, but it came off as sarcastic because he added it was his fault the players were missing layups, free throws and defensive assignments. Then, after losing Game 4, Johnson canceled an off-day practice, but the players went through a workout anyway — without the coaches.

Now, those players will be answering to a new coach.

“We’re just at a stumbling block, at a standstill,” Jason Terry said. “I guess management’s going to take a look at us and see what pieces we need and see where we go from here. ... You know they’re going to make some moves, there’s no doubt. But the backcourt looks solid and you’ve got the big German. That’s not a bad place to start.”

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