PHILADELPHIA (AP) Randy Ayers was fired by the struggling Philadelphia 76ers during his first season as their coach, and assistant Chris Ford was promoted to replace him Tuesday.

Philadelphia went 21-31 under Ayers and is 1{ games behind the Boston Celtics for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

``Randy is a great friend, but a change was needed,'' 76ers general manager Billy King said. ``Our goal is to put a team out there that plays hard every night. ... A lot of things haven't gone well for us. It's not fair to point the finger at one person.''

All but one of the 15 Eastern Conference teams (Atlanta) have changed coaches since the end of last season _ and now the 76ers have done it twice in that span.

Ayers took over after the resignation of Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, who is now with the Detroit Pistons.

Ayers seemingly lost control of the team. In recent weeks, All-Star guard Allen Iverson ripped his teammates for lacking heart and said changes had to be made. Glenn Robinson griped about his playing time, and other players also had complaints.

Ford joined the Sixers' coaching staff last summer after two seasons as the coach at Brandeis University. He led the Boston Celtics to consecutive Atlantic Division titles in 1991 and 1992, and he also coached the Bucks and Clippers.

Ford went 311-358 in nine seasons as an NBA head coach. His best season was his first, when the Celtics went 56-26 and reached the second round of the playoffs.

He won NBA championships with the Celtics as a player (1981) and an assistant coach (1984, 1986).