NBA: Nuggets sack coach Shaw after poor start: reports

Brian Shaw was fired as coach of the NBA's Denver Nuggets on Tuesday after going 56-85 in a season and a half in the job, according to multiple reports Tuesday. The Denver Post, ESPN and USA Today reported the firing, all citing unnamed sources. The Nuggets have lost six games in a row and fallen to 20-39, third-worst in the Western Conference and 12 1/2 games behind Oklahoma City for the final playoff spot in the West with 23 games remaining in the season. Shaw was hired to replace George Karl when he was fired in 2013 after guiding the Nuggets to nine consecutive playoff trips. Never missing the playoffs from 2004 to 2013, the Nuggets lost in the first round nine times and reached the 2009 conference finals, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Nuggets went 36-46 last season, missing the playoffs in Shaw's first campaign, and were struggling this season. Players reportedly chanted "One, two, three, six," in breaking huddles on Friday, a chant Shaw said represented the number of weeks the team had gone without a home victory. Others took that to mean there were only six more weeks remaining before the end of the regular season. Both time span figures cited were correct.