Grizzlies fire Taylor Jenkins, franchise's winningest coach, despite being in playoff position

The Memphis Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins, their winningest coach, on Friday with the team struggling down the stretch and at risk of losing home-court advantage for the post-season.

Still sitting at No. 5 in the Western Conference standings, the Grizzlies decided to dump Jenkins anyway without immediately announcing an interim coach.

Jenkins led the Grizzlies for six seasons. He was let go with the team on the verge of playing three home games in a four-day span starting Saturday — first the Lakers, then Boston on Monday, then Golden State on Tuesday.

That starts a stretch where eight of Memphis' final nine opponents are either playoff clubs or contending for a play-in spot. But it's still possible, at least mathematically, that Memphis could get back to No. 2 in the West, and it's highly unlikely that the Grizzlies will fall into the play-in tournament range.

Still, Memphis decided it was time for a change.

"This was a difficult decision, given the consistent and tangible development of our players and overall success under Taylor's leadership," Zach Kleiman, the Grizzlies' president and general manager of basketball operations, said in a statement.

The Grizzlies will not be practising Friday and announced no media availability.

Jenkins was the fifth longest-tenured coach with his current club in the league, behind only San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, Miami's Erik Spoelstra, Golden State's Steve Kerr and Denver's Michael Malone — all of them having won NBA titles.

Results against the league's best teams so far this season weren't a good sign for Jenkins.

The Grizzlies were 0-4 against Oklahoma City, losing those games by 24, 13, 17 and 21 points. They're 3-6 so far this season against Houston, Denver and the Lakers, the