The New Orleans Hornets fired Byron Scott only nine games into the season Thursday and replaced him with general manager Jeff Bower, hoping the man who put the current roster together can get more out of it on the court.

"I told Jeff, 'The genie's out of the bottle,'"‰" Hornets chief operating officer Hugh Weber said. "Nobody can say he doesn't have the right players. ... Jeff has hand-selected this team."

Scott, who only two seasons ago was the NBA coach of the year, was fired one day after a 124-104 loss at Phoenix dropped New Orleans to 3-6.

Bower, who will remain GM while in his first head coaching job, immediately moved to name Tim Floyd his top assistant and said other assistants will be retained, as well. Floyd, a former Chicago Bulls and Hornets head coach, most recently coached at USC. He resigned last June amid allegations he paid to have O.J. Mayo play for the Trojans. An NCAA investigation of the matter is ongoing.

Bower was Floyd's assistant coach with the Hornets during the 2003-04 season.

"I have a high comfort level with Tim," Bower said.

Messages left with Scott's agent, Brian McInerney, were not immediately returned. Scott took over as coach after the 2003-04 season, replacing Floyd.

Cavaliers 111, Heat 104: LeBron James scored 34 points to help visiting Cleveland beat Miami. Dwyane Wade had 36 points but couldn't rally the Heat from an 11-point deficit in the fourth

Lakers 121, Suns 102: Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, Andrew Bynum had 26 points and 15 rebounds in his return from injury, and host Los Angeles put the brakes on Phoenix's fast start. The defending NBA champions improved to 7-1 by handing the Suns their second loss of the season.

Timberwolves: Al Jefferson will miss tonight's game against Dallas and Saturday's game at Memphis because of an illness in his family in Florida.