LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The New Jersey Nets fired  coach Lawrence Frank on the same day their nightmare season  took a historic turn as they slumped to 0-17, matching the NBA  record for worst start to a season, on Sunday.

Following their 106-87 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers,  the league’s worst team joined the 1988-89 Miami Heat and 1999  Los Angeles Clippers for the mark of futility.

New Jersey’s internal changes failed to produce a shake up  on the court and with assistant Tom Barrise assuming the head  role the Nets found no special remedy to quell their woes,  least of all a matchup with the defending NBA champions.
“To have all this happen, to need a win and then to play  the champions, it’s a tough situation,” point guard Devin  Harris told Reuters after his team reached another regrettable  distinction in setting a franchise record for a longest losing  run in a season. “It came as a shock (to lose our coach) this morning.  Whoever takes over on Monday will have our support. We just  have to find a way to win.”

As if the reeling franchise did not have enough obstacles  to deal with, a determined Kobe Bryant put on a shooting  display with five 3-pointers and 30 points to lead the Lakers  to a routine victory.

Pau Gasol added 20 and Los Angeles (13-3) left the  turbulent Nets dazed and confused, practically putting the game  away before halftime when they took a 59-34 advantage.

BRUTAL RUN

New Jersey made its first two shots and briefly led 8-5  before a brutal 22-2 Lakers’ run vaulted them to a 27-12 lead  at the end of the first quarter.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 26 points and 12 rebounds and  Harris showed good signs in his second game since being  restored to the starting lineup as he works his way back from a  groin injury that has sidelined him for most of the season.

Injuries, however, cannot be blamed for the team’s string  of errors this season. New Jersey is last in the NBA in points  per game and field goal percentage, confirmed by their 43  percent marksmanship on Sunday.

The Nets will host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday as  they try to avoid setting a new record for the NBA’s worst ever  start.

“I don’t think the (record) is on their mind but I think  they’re aware of it. It’s mentally tough to deal with right  now,” Barrise said.

“I’ve been coaching 35 years in college and the NBA (and)  you have three, four-game losing streaks, and you can deal with  that. But when you go a whole month, you wake up and you feel  it.

“You lose your coach at 10 in the morning, you know — the  guys are human.” Frank left with a 225-241 record in six-plus seasons with  New Jersey. Having started his NBA head coaching career as the  Nets interim in Jan. 2004, he was the longest-serving coach in  the Eastern Conference.