PHILADELPHIA - Randy Ayers lost his job after less than a season as the 76ers' coach. If the team doesn't turn things around, others might be on their way out too.
And star guard Allen Iverson would like to have some input.
The 76ers fired Ayers on Tuesday with the team 21-31 and 11/2 games behind Boston for the Eastern Conference's final playoff berth. Assistant Chris Ford takes over on an interim basis.
"Some things I was looking at, I just was not comfortable with," general manager Billy King said. "We're going to be aggressive and see if we can do something to change the roster. We still expect every player to play hard, be professional and play the right way."
He said he is willing to make trades. The deadline for deals is Feb. 19.
King thinks some players have not put forth a full effort every game, something Iverson said earlier.
Iverson was surprised and upset by Ayers' firing and said he would have liked to have heard the news from King first. Now the NBA's leading scorer (27.5-point average) wants to have a say in whatever changes might come next.
"Just being called the franchise player, for being here as long as I've been here, I definitely feel like someone should have said something," Iverson said. "I feel like I'm supposed to be involved with a lot of stuff. ... I've earned the right to know some of the things that are going on."
DUNK CONTEST: LeBron James, who turned down an invitation because of a sprained right ankle, plans to watch the contest - for now. The league announced that Golden State's Jason Richardson will try for a third straight crown against Boston's Ricky Davis, Denver's Chris Andersen and Indiana's Fred Jones during All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. But James, Cleveland's star rookie, hinted at a possible surprise appearance.
RAPTORS: Guard Jalen Rose had surgery on his broken left hand, ending his streak of consecutive NBA games at 286. Only Antawn Jamison's streak of 296 straight is longer among active players. Rose was injured in Sunday's game against Golden State.
WIZARDS: Guard Larry Hughes, the team's leading scorer, will miss 4-6 weeks with a broken bone in his non-shooting left wrist.
Tuesday's games
MAVS 105, KNICKS 90: Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Michael Finley added 25 points and 10 rebounds as surging Dallas snapped the visitors' season-high five-game winning streak and won for the 13th time in the last 16 games. Stephon Marbury's 24 points and 11 assists paced New York.
NETS 89, PISTONS 78: Richard Jefferson had 27 points and 10 rebounds in host New Jersey's ninth straight win. Jason Kidd added 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Nets improved to 8-0 under new coach Lawrence Frank. Detroit lost its fourth straight.
TIMBERWOLVES 96, CLIPPERS 84: Kevin Garnett was one rebound short of a double-double in the first quarter and finished with 31 points and 16 rebounds for host Minnesota. Corey Maggette had a season-high 34 for Los Angeles, which lost its third straight.
LAKERS 98, HEAT 83: Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and Derek Fisher came off the bench to score eight of his season-high 18 in the fourth quarter to help visiting Los Angeles post consecutive wins for the first time since mid-January. Dwyane Wade had 19 points for Miami, which dropped its fifth straight.
KINGS 124, BUCKS 117: Peja Stojakovic scored 31 and sank all four of his free throws in the final 20 seconds to help Sacramento hold off host Milwaukee.
PACERS 103, BULLS 84: Ron Artest scored 26 to warm up for his first All-Star Game appearance and visiting Indiana rolled to its 39th victory, most in the NBA before the break.
JAZZ 86, BLAZERS 81: Carlos Arroyo scored 14 of his 20 in the fourth quarter as visiting Utah ended Portland's three-game winning streak in its first game since trading forward Rasheed Wallace.
WARRIORS 106, SONICS 97: Jason Richardson scored 22 and Brian Cardinal added 20 as visiting Golden State rebounded from tying an NBA record for fewest points in a quarter (two) in its previous start, winning for just the sixth time in 26 road games.
RAPTORS 101, SUNS 94: - Vince Carter (29), Morris Peterson (27) and Donyell Marshall (25) combined for 81 points to spark visiting Toronto. Peterson hit seven 3-pointers and Marshall added 11 rebounds.
