Which NBA team fired coach Jeff Van Gundy following a loss in the 2007 NBA Playoffs?

The Houston Rockets fired coach Jeff Van Gundy following their loss in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. Houston lost its first-round series to the Utah Jazz in seven games before ending Van Gundy’s tenure.

The Rockets had finished the 2006–07 regular season with a 52–30 record and earned home-court advantage in the series. Houston won the first two games against Utah and led the series 3–2, but the Jazz won Game 6 in Utah and then took the deciding Game 7 in Houston, 103–99, on May 5, 2007.

On May 18, the Rockets announced that Van Gundy would not return. The team later hired Rick Adelman as his replacement. Van Gundy had coached Houston since 2003 and guided the team to the playoffs twice, but both appearances ended in the first round.

The wording can cause confusion because the Rockets did not dismiss Van Gundy immediately after the final buzzer. The decision followed the playoff defeat and a failure to reach a new agreement with him. The team involved was Houston, not Utah, the opponent that eliminated the Rockets.