Mavs fire Johnson after second straight first-round flameout

DALLAS — From the start, Avery Johnson was a perfect fit as coach of the Dallas Mavericks.

At the end, it was pretty obvious he wasn't.

Johnson lost his job Wednesday, a move the team referred to as "relieving him of his duties." The softer tone made sense considering that in three-plus seasons Johnson guided the Mavericks to the finals for the first time and to a club-record 67 wins the following season.

Yet for all the high points, there were some serious lows — blowing a 2-0 lead in those finals, getting dumped in the first round of the playoffs after that 67-win season and then, the final straw, getting knocked out in the first round again this season after Dallas mortgaged some of its roster future to acquire Jason Kidd.

Over those three straight postseason wipeouts, the Mavericks lost 12 of 15 games.

The final mark during Johnson's tenure: 194-70 in the regular season, 23-24 in the playoffs.

"This is something that needed to happen," Johnson, a former Sonics player, told a local radio station. "We didn't win the championship, but if you look at the whole body of work that we put together over the last 3 ½ years ... we'll put it up against anybody."

Notes:

• Celtics forward Paul Pierce, fined $25,000 for what the NBA called a "menacing gesture" during Game 3 of Boston's playoff series against Atlanta, denied that the sign was gang-related.

"I 100 percent do not in any way promote gang violence or anything close to it," Pierce said in a statement issued Wednesday before Game 5 of the series.

The league fined Pierce for flashing a hand gesture toward Atlanta's Al Horford, holding up his right hand, forming an "O" with his thumb and index finger and extending the other three fingers. Although the gesture was interpreted as a gang sign, Celtics basketball boss Danny Ainge said the three fingers represented "blood, sweat and tears."

Pierce does it before every game, Ainge said, adding that the fine would be appealed after the season.

• General manager Steve Kerr acknowledged philosophical differences with Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, but insisted he wants D'Antoni back for a fifth season with the Suns. He said he and owner Robert Sarver would meet with the coach in the next few days.

D'Antoni's record is 232-96 over the past four regular seasons, though the Suns have never made the NBA Finals.

• With a simple "Yeah," coach George Karl confirmed he will return to the Denver Nuggets' bench next season.

Karl, a former Sonics head coach, already had the faith of the Nuggets' brass — and the strength of his contract — so Karl's reassurance of his own commitment was the final part of the equation. Denver was swept 4-0 by the Los Angeles Lakers in the the Western Conference playoffs.