The Atlanta Hawks have fired their head coach Lioyd Pierce and assistant Nate McMillan will fill in the position on an interim basis, announced the team on Monday. Lloyd became the second head coach to lose his job this season after Ryan Saunders was sacked by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"We would like to thank Lloyd for his work and commitment to not only the Hawks organization but the city of Atlanta. He and his wife, Melissa, are tremendous people who have made a positive impact throughout the city. We have high expectations for our team on the court and we believe by making this change now that we can have a strong second half of the season," said the Hawks' President of Basketball Operations and general manager Travis Schlenk in a statement.

Pierce became the Hawks head coach in 2018, the same year the team acquired Trae Young from the University of Oklahoma. They spent two seasons waiting for young blood like Young to grow while carrying on their policy of swallowing undesirable contracts to accumulate salary space for the future.

The Hawks changed their target during the 2020 offseason when they wrote multiple big checks to introduce Kris Dunn, Rajon Rondo, Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic. These signings in addition to Clint Capela and the growth of Young, John Collins, DeAndre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter plus the newly-selected Onyeka Okongwu gave the team's front office confidence to chase playoff qualification and even something bigger.

Then the Hawks finished their first 34 games with a 14-20 record, including seven losses in the past 10 games. They lost 109-99 to the Miami Heat on February 28 though Lloyd showed no indication that he's in trouble. He was sacked after running the team's practice on Monday.

However, Lloyd should not be held responsible for everything. The Hawks' most important investment, Bogdanovic, only played nine games so far because of injury. Hunter, the team's third scorer, missed 16 games. Dunn has not even made an appearance.

"Listen, it's certainly been an issue. We're not going to sit here and blame the injuries for where we are. But as we approach the trade deadline here in 24 days, it certainly makes it a little more difficult going into it not having a game this year, I don't think, when we've been at full strength with all the guys we signed this summer. So, it makes it a little more challenging. But we're not going to sit here and blame the injuries for where we are, either," said Schlenk of injuries.

As Lloyd's successor, McMillan has way richer coaching experience after leaving a 667-591 record in 16 seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers. He joined Lloyd's staff after losing his job with the Indiana Pacers.