The Sacramento Kings have fired coach Mike Brown less than halfway through his third season with the team mired in a five-game losing streak, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because the firing hadn’t been announced by the team. ESPN first reported the firing.

Brown won NBA Coach of the Year in his first season in 2022-23, when he helped Sacramento end the longest playoff drought in NBA history at 16 seasons.

But Sacramento lost in the play-in tournament last year and was off to a 13-18 start this season, leading to the move to fire Brown about six months after he agreed to a contract extension through the 2026-27 season.

The Kings have lost an NBA-worst nine games this season after leading in the fourth quarter.

The Kings came into the season with hopes of finishing in the top six in the West and avoiding the play-in tournament after acquiring DeMar DeRozan in a sign-and-trade deal to add to a core that featured Fox, Domanta Sabonis and Keegan Murray.

Brown has a 107-88 record in two-plus seasons in Sacramento with a winning record in both of his full seasons.

Rick Adelman is the only other coach to post a winning record in a full season since the Kings moved to Sacramento.

Doncic out at least a month with hurt calf

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic will be out about a month before being re-evaluated for a calf injury sustained in a Christmas Day loss to Minnesota, a person with knowledge of the injury.

Doncic underwent an MRI on his strained left calf, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the injury haven’t been released.

The absence is almost certain to be long enough to disqualify the five-time All-NBA player from consideration for that and other major awards, including MVP. Doncic had already missed eight games, including five because of a sprained right wrist, when he pulled up lame while running a play on offense late in the second quarter of a 105-99 loss to the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

Doncic entered Friday sixth in the NBA in scoring at 28.1 points per game while averaging 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists.

Butler sitting out rest of Heat’s road trip

Jimmy Butler will not play in the final two games of Miami’s ongoing road trip while recovering from illness, the team said Friday.

That means Butler will not play Saturday at Atlanta or Sunday at Houston. The earliest he could play again is Wednesday at home against New Orleans.

Butler hasn’t played since the first quarter of Miami’s Dec. 20 game against Oklahoma City, when he twisted an ankle, left the game and then was ruled out because of illness.

Miami has played three games since without Butler, two because of the illness and then Thursday’s win in Orlando with him back in Miami conditioning for a return.

The Heat said Thursday that they are not going to trade Butler.

Butler has not publicly expressed any desire to be traded. He is averaging 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists this seasons.

Embiid fined $75,000 for obscene gestures

Philadelphia center Joel Embiid was fined $75,000 by the NBA on Friday for making obscene gestures during the first half of the the 76ers’ 118-114 road victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.

Embiid, the 2022-23 MVP, has played only nine games this season,averaging 21.3 points and seven rebounds.