Rockets hire Adelman as next coach

HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Rockets hired Rick Adelman to replace Jeff Van Gundy, hoping the veteran NBA coach can break the team’s recent history of postseason flops.

“I always knew I was going to look for something eventually,” Adelman said Tuesday night as he arrived at an airport in Houston, where he was met by team officials. “This is obviously just a great situation with the city, the organization. I’m really excited. This is a team that played so solid last year. You can build on that.”

The Rockets will introduce Adelman at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Adelman, 60, brings an up-tempo, high-scoring system to Houston, a stark contrast to Van Gundy’s more defense-minded and methodical approach. Van Gundy was fired Friday after the Rockets were bounced from the opening round of the playoffs for the third time in his four seasons.