Trail Blazers Fire Adelman After Early Exit From Playoffs

The Portland Trail Blazers fired Coach Rick Adelman on Thursday after a disappointing season capped by a first-round elimination from the NBA playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Second-seeded Houston eliminated Portland, 3-1, in the first round earlier this month. The Trail Blazers finished the regular season with a 47-35 record.

Adelman, 47, was 291-154 in five seasons with the Trail Blazers, trailing only Jack Ramsay in victories earned by a Portland coach.

Adelman, whose contract runs through the 1995-96 season, took over as coach on Feb. 18, 1989.

Portland finished second in the Pacific Division the next season and went on to lose to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA finals. They won the division title the next two seasons, reaching the conference finals in 1991 and the NBA finals against Chicago the next year.

“While I can’t say enough about the accomplishments of our team under the direction of Rick Adelman, I have had to make the very difficult decision that a change at this time is necessary,” owner Paul Allen said.