COACH BLATT FIRED BY EAST-LEADING CAVALIERS

The Cavaliers fired coach David Blatt, who led the team to the NBA Finals last season. Blatt’s top assistant, Tyronn Lue, will take over. The Cavaliers (30-11) host the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. Cleveland led the Eastern Conference standings by 3½ games over the Toronto Raptors prior to Friday’s games. Blatt’s firing came one day after the coach was defensive following the team’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Blatt was bothered by criticism his team received after a 34-point loss to the defending champion Golden State Warriors earlier this week. His second season was going better than his first year, when he struggled to adapt to the NBA game after being a successful coach in Europe. Despite injuries and a team learning to mesh with stars LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the Cavs made it to the finals before losing to the Warriors in six games. Following Thursday night’s win over the Clippers, Blatt shared a moment with James at his locker. The pair shook hands and smiled at each other, without any hint that a coaching change could be forthcoming.