The Minnesota Timberwolves fired head coach Dwane Casey on Tuesday and named assistant coach Randy Wittman as coach of the NBA team for the rest of the season.

The Timberwolves have lost four straight games to slip back to the .500 mark at 20-20, and the club was underachieving in the mind of Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale.

"We started the season with certain goals and expectations that have not been met," McHale told reporters. "We've struggled with being consistent throughout the year and ultimately that's the head coach's responsibility.

"I want to thank Dwane for his hard work and commitment to this team, and wish him well."

Casey posted a record of 53-69 in less than two full seasons as head coach of the T-Wolves. He spent 11 seasons as an assistant with the Seattle SuperSonics prior to taking the job in Minnesota.

Casey also spent five seasons coaching in Japan and had been an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky prior to that.

Wittman was a head coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers for two seasons from 1999 to 2001 and has been assistant coach with both the Wolves and Orlando Magic.

"We believe that Randy Wittman will provide our team with a different voice to get us jump-started and going in the right direction," said McHale.

"Randy is a known quantity who has a great amount of experience in the NBA. He's been an assistant coach, a player and a head coach in the league."