The New York Knicks have fired head coach David Fizdale amid a 4-18 start to the season, the team announced Friday.

Assistant coach Keith Smart was also fired. His fellow assistant coach, Mike Miller, will now be interim head coach.

Fizdale's firing comes one night after he ripped into the team's "sickening" effort in a 30-point loss at home to the Denver Nuggets and a 44-point defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday. The Knicks were outscored 17-1 to start of the second half in their loss to the Nuggets.

The Knicks have lost eight consecutive games and sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Only the Golden State Warriors (4-19) have a worst record than New York.

The Knicks have been outscored by an average of 10.8 points per game this season and have the worst point differential in the NBA.

The Knicks compiled a 21-83 record in less than two years under Fizdale.

Fizdale coached the Memphis Grizzles for two seasons before he joined the Knicks in May 2018. His record in Memphis was 50-51.

His job status had been up in the air after team president Steve Mills and General Manager Scott Perry held a joint news conference after a 108-87 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on November 10, expressing their frustrations with the team's play. The Knicks have lost 10 of 12 since the public rebuke.

New York is back in action at the Garden on Saturday night against the Pacers.