Milwaukee Bucks fire coach Jason Kidd

Seeking change amid midseason struggles, the Milwaukee Bucks fired coach Jason Kidd on Monday after a slide that left a team with designs on challenging the NBA’s best in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

It was a surprising end to Kidd’s three-plus-season tenure in Milwaukee, during which the Bucks made the playoffs twice, exiting in the first round each time. Giannis Antetokounmpo turned into an All-Star under his watch, and the Bucks were considered an emerging force in the East at the start of the season.

But the Bucks had lost four of five to fall to 23-22 going into Monday night’s game against Phoenix and had been prone to defensive lapses, especially on the perimeter. Turnovers were an issue of late as well.

General manager Jon Horst, who was promoted from director of basketball operations in June, said it was time for a change. Kidd was fired hours before the Bucks beat the Suns 109-105.

Assistant coach Joe Prunty will serve as interim coach for the rest of the season, coowner Wes Edens said in an interview before the game.

Under Kidd, the Bucks had a regular-season record of 139152.

“A general manager in the NHL had a statement once: ‘If something is inevitable, why wait?’” Horst said at a news conference.

Horst added that the decision was made “relatively quickly,” and was not in the works through the season.

“We just felt that we got to a point in the season where this team could do more and could perform at a different level in a different way and (we are) looking for a fresh approach and different voice in leadership for the team,” Horst said.

Kidd was hired a few months after a group led by Edens and Mark Lasry bought the team in April 2014. The Bucks traded two future second-draft picks to the Brooklyn Nets.

The Nets went 44-38 in 2013-14 in Kidd’s only year in Brooklyn.