EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey, November 29, 2009 (AFP) - The New Jersey Nets, closing in on an NBA record for futility, sacked coach Lawrence Frank on Sunday.

Assistant Tom Barrise will coach the team Sunday night in Los Angeles against the reigning champion Lakers, when the Nets could equal the record for the worst start to an NBA season if they lose their 17th straight.

Two teams have started a season 0-17 - the expansion Miami Heat in 1988-89 and the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers.

The team said a permanent replacement for Frank has not been decided.

Frank was in his sixth full season, the longest-tenured coach in the Eastern Conference and the winningest coach in the Nets' NBA history.

None of those victories have come this season, in which the Nets are 0-16.

"Lawrence always approached every day with a passion for his craft that was infectious, and his dedication to the game as well as his work ethic are to be both admired and appreciated," Nets president Rod Thorn said in a statement. "I wish he and his family only the best of good fortune in the future."

Frank was a Nets assistant coach for more than three seasons before replacing sacked Byron Scott as head coach on January 26, 2004.

This season his team have been hindered by injuries, facing some games where they were without four starters and had the minimum eight players in uniform.

They have still played hard and managed to stay close in many of those games, and had hoped to come out on top once some of their injured players returned.

Frank was expected to last at least through the four-game Western road trip that ends Sunday.

But management apparently decided it was time for a change after the Nets fell far behind in losses at Denver and Sacramento.