Fitzsimmons Quits as Suns Remain Winless

Cotton Fitzsimmons quit as coach of the Phoenix Suns, turning over the winless team to assistant Danny Ainge Thursday night after a 92-89 loss to the Vancouver Grizzlies at Vancouver.

Fitzsimmons had planned to yield to Ainge at the end of this season, his 21st as an NBA coach. But the Suns’ worst start in 11 years led Fitzsimmons to change that plan.

The Suns are 0-8, one loss short of the franchise record set in the 1985-86 season. Blue Edwards scored 34 points, including four free throws down the stretch, to lead Vancouver to its first victory after seven losses.

Fitzsimmons, also senior vice president of the Suns, said he was stepping aside now “in the best interest of the club.

“By me stepping down this early in the season, the team will have 74 games to straighten themselves out and head in the right direction,” he said in a statement.

“Our game plan was for me to turn this club over to Danny Ainge at the end of the season. This was something we had tried and done successfully in the past. Unfortunately, it was not working this time.”

Fitzsimmons’ career record is 832-775.

New York 99, Toronto 96--John Starks sparked the Knicks past the Raptors by scoring 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter at New York.

Starks, coming off the bench this season behind Allan Houston, scored 11 of the Knicks’ first 20 points of the fourth quarter. He shot nine for 16 from the field and added six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Patrick Ewing had 25 points and Charles Oakley added 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks.

Marcus Camby, the second overall pick in last summer’s draft, led Toronto with a season-high 29 points.

Orlando 96, Charlotte 89--The Magic’s bench accounted for 45 points and 25 rebounds in defeating the Hornets at Orlando.

Center Rony Seikaly contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic. Backup point guard Darrell Armstrong scored all 11 of his points in the last 13 minutes.

Minnesota 100, Dallas 90--Doug West made three consecutive jump shots to spark a 13-0 run to open the second half as the Timberwolves defeated the Mavericks at Minneapolis and surpassed .500 for only the second time in franchise history.

The only previous occasion was when the Timberwolves won their opener in 1990.

Tom Gugliotta scored a season-high 30 points and had 11 rebounds. Chris Gatling led the Mavericks with a season-high 26 points.

Golden State 95, Milwaukee 86--Joe Smith shook off the effects of a bad ankle to score 26 points against the Bucks at San Jose and lead the Warriors to their first home victory of the season.

Milwaukee’s Vin Baker had 32 points and 14 rebounds. Latrell Sprewell scored 26 for the Warriors.

Houston 90, Indiana 88--Hakeem Olajuwon scored nine points in the final 4:32 and blocked Reggie Miller’s layup in the final seconds to lift the Rockets past the Pacers at Houston.

Charles Barkley had 25 points and nine rebounds for Houston, the first time this season he missed double figures in rebounds.

Travis Best matched a career-high with 23 points to lead the Pacers.