Bodog Beat

Not-so-Merry Christmas: Skiles was relieved of his duties as Chicago's head coach. (AI Wire)

Maybe John Paxson is auditioning for the role of The Grinch.

In what has to be one of the zanier transactions ever completed on Christmas Eve, the struggling Chicago Bulls fired head coach Scott Skiles after he led to the team to a woeful 9-16 record to start the season. The Bulls have also lost three of their last four and were booed throughout by the home crowd during Saturday night's 116-98 loss to the Houston Rockets.

The Bulls didn't immediately announce a replacement for Skiles, who went 165-172 after replacing Bill Cartwright in November 2003.

Chicago is in a familiar spot with this season's slow start.

The Bulls dropped their first nine in 2004-05 and were 4-15 before going on a surge that led to 47 wins and their first playoff appearance since the Michael Jordan era. They needed a late surge the next season to make it to the playoffs, winning 12 of their final 14 regular-season games to finish with 41 wins.

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