Saunders fired as coach of Pistons

In the morning, the Detroit Pistons fired Coach Flip Saunders. By the afternoon, the players were put on notice.

“I’m not going to sit here and make Flip the scapegoat,” president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said Tuesday. “Everybody is in play.”

Dumars publicly put his entire lineup on the trading block, less than a week after the Pistons lost in the Eastern Conference finals for the third straight year.

“There are no sacred cows here,” Dumars said. “You lose that sacred-cow status when you lose three straight years.”

Saunders, 53, had one year left on his four-year, $26-million contract. The Pistons averaged nearly 59 victories in three regular seasons under Saunders, who trailed only fired Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson by two wins and San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich by one victory during the span.

Saunders, fired by Minnesota in 2005, was 30-21 in the playoffs for the Pistons, losing in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals each year. He has coached 24 conference finals games, the most by an NBA coach since 1971 without reaching the NBA Finals, according to STATS LLC.

Michael Curry, a current assistant and former Pistons player, is the leading candidate to replace Saunders.

“This will not be a long, drawn-out process,” Dumars said.

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Unsure of his future when the regular season ended, Don Nelson will return for at least one more season as coach of the Golden State Warriors.

Nelson, 68, has one year and $5 million left on his contract. The Warriors finished 48-34 but missed the playoffs.

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In a letter dated May 8, prosecutors in New York asked a judge to consider giving disgraced referee Tim Donaghy a break on his sentence to reward his “substantial assistance” in their gambling investigation.

Donaghy pleaded guilty last year to felony charges alleging he took cash payoffs from gamblers and bet on games himself. Donaghy faces up to 33 months in prison at sentencing July 14.