The winless New Jersey Nets fired coach Lawrence Frank on Sunday, several hours before they matched the worst start in NBA history with their 17th straight loss.

Assistant Tom Barrise temporarily replaced his friend, but the Nets remained 0-for-the-season with a 106-87 loss to the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Though Frank's departure has been widely expected while New Jersey lost every game in the season's first 4 1/2 weeks, several of Frank's players claimed they were stunned when their energetic coach showed up at their morning team meeting in Los Angeles not wearing his Nets gear.

"It's tough, because he was the hardest worker on the team," center Brook Lopez said. "He's so passionate about what he does. It was a rough situation, and he did a great job of not using our injuries as an excuse. He came in every night and had us prepared."

The Nets won't choose a permanent replacement for Frank until after they return from their four-game road trip Monday. Their next game is Wednesday at home against Dallas, when the Nets must win to avoid NBA ignominy.

Frank's 225 victories are the most in franchise history, and he had a career .500 record before this disastrous, injury-plagued season. He also was the longest-tenured coach in the Eastern Conference, but his steady work couldn't repair a trade-depleted roster featuring eight players who already have missed multiple games with injuries.

"He wasn't dealt a royal flush," said Rafer Alston, who joined New Jersey in the June trade sending star scorer Vince Carter to Orlando and gutting the Nets' payroll. "It's almost like he had a pair of 2's, and he tried to fight."

Frank, from Teaneck, N.J., replaced Byron Scott in January 2004 and began his career with a 13-game winning streak, the best coaching start in league history. His final losing streak was even longer, though he was fired hours before New Jersey matched the 17-game skids by the 1988-89 Miami Heat and the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers.

Frank led the Nets to the playoffs in four straight seasons from 2004-07, but New Jersey missed the last two postseasons with identical 34-48 records.

Barrise was a longtime advance scout for the Nets who became an assistant when Frank took over the club. Barrise was a head coach during a three-season stint at Ramapo College in Mahwah, N.J., in the early 1990s.

"It's a tough day," Barrise said. "It's a somber day. We've been together 10 years. It's the business we chose, and it happens. We move on. ... I think we've played motivated. I think we were competitive every night. I think what we need is to get healthy. As we get these guys back, it's almost like a whole training camp again."