INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The Cleveland Cavaliers made a big change with another season falling apart, firing general manager Chris Grant on Thursday. Grant was fired a day after the Cavs dropped their sixth straight game, an embarrassing home loss to a Los Angeles Lakers team that started with eight players and finished with five. Vice president of basketball operations David Griffin will serve as acting general manager. Owner Dan Gilbert made it clear hes unhappy with what has transpired in a season that began with hopes the Cavs would make the playoffs after a three-year absence. "This has been a very difficult period for the franchise," Gilbert said in a statement. "We have severely underperformed against expectations. Just as this is completely unacceptable to our loyal and passionate fan base, season ticket holders and corporate partners, it is also just as unacceptable to our ownership group." Gilbert also met with reporters at the teams training facility following the announcement. He expressed confidence that the Cavs can show improvement under coach Mike Brown over the final 33 games. Grant was instrumental in the rehiring of Brown, who was fired during his first stint with the team in 2010. Gilbert was asked if Browns job was safe for the rest of this season. "Were going to see Mike Brown succeed this year because I think that hell be able to do good things and I think this team will be able to do good things," Gilbert said. "I think theyre going to look at each other and theyre going to look in the mirror and theyre going to rally." Gilbert also was asked why he decided to change his general manager but not his coach. "Coach Brown has only been here over half a season," he said. "Chris Grant has been here 8 1/2 years. Hes been the general manager almost four years. Theres a lot of talent on this team. I think everybody knows that." Gilbert promised last spring the Cavs would not return to the NBA lottery, but Cleveland is 16-33 and has dropped six in a row -- matching its longest losing streak of the season. The Cavs are 5 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference and their only win in the last nine games came over Milwaukee, which has the leagues worst record. "Accountability starts with me," Gilbert said. "I take responsibility for where were at." Grants tenure will be known for not being able to rebuild the Cavs fast enough despite having a slew of first-round draft picks, including two No. 1 overall selections. Grant addressed the teams poor play last week, saying everyone in the organization was accountable, including himself. Grant took Anthony Bennett with the first pick last June and then signed free-agent centre Andrew Bynum during the summer when no other team would offer the 7-footer a contract. Grant was able to unload Bynum in a trade with Chicago for Luol Deng, but the forwards arrival has done little to invigorate the Cavs. Cleveland has been under .500 since the fifth game of the season and the players have been slow to pick up Browns system on both ends of the floor. In a season thats already had too many low moments, the Cavs hit rock bottom Wednesday. Not only did they fall behind by 29 points to Los Angeles, the Lakers played the final few minutes with five healthy players, including one who was allowed to remain in the game after committing his sixth foul because coach Mike DAntoni was out of bodies. The Cavs were booed throughout the game and Brown, who has been unable to come up with any answers to stop his teams skid, benched All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving and three other starters in the fourth quarter as Cleveland got back in the game before losing 119-108. The acquisition of Deng last month brought hope the season could be salvaged, but that proved to be temporary. The Cavs went 3-2 on a West Coast trip, but followed that with a 1-4 record on its longest homestand of the season. Cleveland then lost three consecutive road games, including a 31-point rout by the Knicks on national television. Grant joined the organization in 2005 as vice-president of basketball operations/assistant general manager. He was hired as general manager on June 4, 2010. Griffin was hired later that year after spending 17 seasons with the Phoenix Suns, the last three as the clubs senior vice-president of basketball operations. Discount Air Max . -- The Atlanta Braves are facing the possibility of losing another pitcher for the season after general manager Frank Wren said Saturday that Cory Gearrin has a serious injury to his right elbow. Air Max Outlet . 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Breaking the 7-5 logjam Six teams in the AFC are tied for the final wild card spot with a 7-5 record, three in the AFC North alone. The quickest way to break that logjam down the regular season stretch is head-to-head matchups amongst the six teams. That’s what we get when the Baltimore Ravens travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins. Neither team has inspired much confidence of late. The Ravens are coming off a loss and haven’t beaten an above .500 team since Week 3. The Dolphins won last week, but only barely against a brutal New York Jets team. Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill has impressed this season, and it’s looking like he could be the real deal. It will be interesting to see how he plays down the stretch in a high-pressure situation. The big games for him start Sunday against the Ravens. Hanging On The Bills are hanging in there. After a disheartening loss to the Dolphins two weeks ago, Buffalo ripped off back-to-back wins against the Jets and Browns and are now tied for the final wild card spot with five other teams. They were perhaps prematurely written off after losing to Miami but if they can’t get by the Broncos – and Vegas sure doesn’t think they will – it may actually be time to start thinking about next year. Another team just holding on, but in a much different situation, is the Arizona Cardinals. A couple weeks ago the Cardinals were the NFL’s sweetheart with a league-best 9-1 record. Two Drew Stanton starts later and Arizona looking over their shoulder at the Seahawks (one game behind) and the 49ers (two games behind). Like the Bills, the Cardinals face a strong AFC West team in the Kansas City CChiefs.dddddddddddd NFC Heavyweight Battle At least the Cardinals can take solace in the fact Seattle has a tough matchup as well. The Seahawks take on the NFC East leading Philadelpia Eagles and their 6-0 home record. Seattle’s road record is only mediocre but if there’s a defence to make Eagles’ QB Mark Sanchez look like Jets’ QB Mark Sanchez, it’s the Seahawks’. Seattle has the top overall defence and is third best against the pass. They also have one of the league’s best turnover ratios. If Sanchez can find a way to win Sunday, he may have a job for the rest of the year and into the playoffs. Something to Prove? The Chargers should be feeling pretty good about themselves after last week. They squeaked out a win against the Ravens, their third in a row, to take sole possession of the first wild card spot. Their reward for the big week is a home game, nice, but against a New England Patriots team that has lots to prove. The Pats are coming off a hard fought loss to the Green Bay Packers in what many dubbed a Super Bowl preview. They also have no wiggle room left for the first overall seed in the AFC now with matching records with the Broncos. Battle atop the AFC North It sounds weird to say, but the AFC North is tied for the best division in football. All four teams are above .500 and have combined for 29 wins on the season. That’s part of what makes this underrated rivalry game even better. Thanks to a three-game win streak the Bengals are a half-point out of a first round bye while the Steelers, also one of the 7-5 six, are at risk of not making the playoffs at all. Cincy has one of the better defences in the league and will need a big game to stop Big Ben, Le’Veon Bell, and the surprisingly high-powered Steelers offence. ' ' '