Cavaliers fire coach J.B. Bickerstaff despite some progress and getting to second round of playoffs

CLEVELAND (AP) — J.B. Bickerstaff was fired as Cleveland's coach on Thursday despite leading the Cavaliers through an injury-ravaged season and into the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Bickerstaff's dismissal came one week after the Cavs were eliminated in five games by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Cleveland played the final two games of the series without All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, who played over two months with a left knee injury before he hurt his calf in the closing minutes of Game 4 against the Celtics.

Mitchell has to decide whether to sign a long-term contract extension with the club this summer, and his future may have impacted the team moving on from Bickerstaff, who made incremental progress in each of his four-plus seasons with Cleveland but not enough to keep his job.