Cavs fire Bickerstaff despite run to East semis

Despite the franchise’s first berth in the Eastern Conference semifinals in six seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers dismissed coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Thursday morning.

Bickerstaff, 45, ushered the Cavaliers through a rebuild, winning 99 regular-season games in the past two seasons, but the franchise now embarks on a search that it hopes will land a coach to take Cleveland deeper into the Eastern Conference playoffs.

After replacing John Beilein as interim coach in 2020, Bickerstaff had a 170-159 (.517) record in five seasons with the Cavaliers.

Cleveland was the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed with a 48-34 record, beating the Orlando Magic in an opening-round seven-game series. Boston defeated Cleveland 4-1 in the conference semifinals as center Jarrett Allen and All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell missed the final two games.

Cleveland wants a fresh approach and president of basketball operations Koby Altman and general manager Mike Gansey will embark on a coaching search.

“J.B. is a well-respected NBA coach and an incredible human-being,” Altman said in a statement. “Over the past four years, he helped establish a culture that progressively drove players to become the best versions of themselves. Decisions like these are never easy, particularly when you look back at where this franchise rebuild started under his leadership. The NBA is a unique business that sometimes requires aggressive risk-taking to move a franchise forward and ultimately compete for championships.”

The Cavaliers have a significant talent base with All-Star guards Mitchell and Darius Garland and a frontcourt of Allen and Evan Mobley.