As the franchise spirals with a ruddlerless roster, the New York Knicks fired coach David Fizdale on Friday, league sources told ESPN.

The Knicks lost eight straight games, including a 129-92 loss to Denver on Thursday night that dropped the team to an Eastern Conference-worst 4-18, which is tied for the worst record in franchise history.

New York also fired top assistant Keith Smart, league sources said.

Assistant coach Mike Miller is a strong possibility to become interim coach, with Pat Sullivan as a possible candidate too, league sources told Ramona Shelburne.

Fizdale was 21-83 in less than two seasons as Knicks coach, and he is owed the remainder of his four-year, $22 million contract.

For weeks, Fizdale has been walking a razor's edge. After a blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 10, team president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry conducted an impromptu news conference to express their discontent with the coach and his the Knicks -- a move that sources said created a divide between management and Fizdale that never healed.

Fizdale was hired 18 months ago to be the coach to build a system around Kristaps Porzingis, only to have him traded to the Dallas Mavericks for picks and cap space months later.

He chose the Knicks job in 2018 over several other offers -- including Atlanta, Charlotte and Phoenix.

The other time the Knicks started 4-18, in 2014-15, they went on to lose 65 games -- tied with last season for the worst in the history of the team.

The Knicks next play at home against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.