Lawrence Frank fired as Detroit Pistons coach

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 18 (UPI) -- The Detroit Pistons on Thursday fired Coach Lawrence Frank after two seasons in which the Pistons were a combined 40 games under .500.

The Pistons were beaten 103-99 by the Brooklyn Nets in the regular season finale Wednesday. That left Detroit with a 29-53 record, tied for 11th in the Eastern Conference, nine games out of a playoff berth.

The Pistons were 25-41 last season, Frank's first coaching the team.

"We thank Lawrence for his hard work and dedication but we feel it is in the best interest of the franchise to make a change at this time," Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars said. "Decisions like this are never easy and we wish Lawrence well in the future."

The Detroit job was Frank's second head coaching position in the NBA. He led the New Jersey Nets for seven seasons from 2004-10. His overall coaching record is 279-335.

Frank became the coach at New Jersey after Byron Scott was fired in January 2004. Scott was fired Thursday as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.