Bjorkgren out as Pacers coach
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers fired Nate Bjorkgren on Wednesday after missing the playoffs in his only season as coach.
The Pacers went 34-38 and their season ended with a 142-115 loss to Washington in the play-in tournament that ended their run of five straight playoff appearances.
Team president Kevin Pritchard chose afterward to take some time to evaluate the coaching position.
Pritchard said in a statement that the Pacers would move quickly to identify candidates to replace Bjorkgren but had no timetable for a hire.
Bjorkgren was previously an assistant in Toronto and Phoenix, but his move to the top spot was a rocky one, with both he and Pritchard acknowledging difficulties managing the players.
Gobert honored as top defender
Utah’s Rudy Gobert won his third Defensive Player of the Year award Wednesday after helping the Utah Jazz to the best record in the NBA.
Gobert had the most total blocked shots and defensive rebounds in the league this season and became the fourth player to win the award at least three times.
A night after a gamesealing blocked shot in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, Gobert received 84 firstplace votes and 464 points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.
Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons was second with 15 first-place votes and 287 votes, while Draymond Green of Golden State was third with 76 points.
Gobert was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019. Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace each won it four times and Dwight Howard three.
Gobert’s third Defensive Player of the Year award broke a tie for the team record with Mark Eaton, who died last month at 64.
Nets’ Harden will miss Game 3
Brooklyn’s James Harden will miss Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals because of the right hamstring injury that forced him out of the series opener.
Harden left 43 seconds into that game with tightness but the Nets haven’t missed him, taking a 2-0 lead over the Bucks. Game 3 is Thursday in Milwaukee.
Odds and ends
Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter, who has been experiencing swelling and soreness in his right knee since injuring it in late January, will miss the rest of the postseason, the team announced Wednesday. … Heat president Pat Riley was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for being too clear that he’d eagerly welcome a reunion with LeBron James. The league said Riley violated its antitampering rule with his remarks during an interview Friday on Dan Le Batard’s radio show.