Scott Skiles is out as Milwaukee Bucks head coach and the team says veteran assistant Jim Boylan will take over for the rest of the season. General manager John Hammond made it official Tuesday, hours before the Bucks hosted Phoenix. “Scott and I met yesterday after practice and after some honest discussion, we both came to the conclusion that it was best to part ways,” Hammond said. “It is never an easy decision to make, but in the end a decision we felt was best for both parties.”

Skiles had a 162-182 record in four-plus seasons with Milwaukee, with one playoff appearance — a first-round loss to Atlanta in seven games during the 2009-10 season. He was a hard-nosed, defensive-minded coach who sometimes seemed to have difficulty meshing with a roster built around volume shooters Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis. Hammond downplayed any suggestion that the locker room was fractured or that he didn’t get along with Skiles, “Scott and I did not have a frosty relationship. Scott did not hate this team,” said Hammond, who noted that more than half the season remains. “We’re not a team in dire straits … we’re expecting good things to happen.”