Oklahoma City (1-12) at New Orleans (6-5)

The adjustment of playing in a new city has not come easy for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are an NBA-worst 1-12. The Thunder hope for better things Saturday when interim coach Scott Brooks makes his debut as they complete a home-and-home series with the New Orleans Hornets.

The Thunder fired P.J. Carlesimo on Saturday morning following their 105-80 home loss to the Hornets on Friday night. Oklahoma City was continuing a rebuilding project that had started last season before moving from Seattle, but the team’s sixth straight defeat by a double-digit margin - part of a current 10-game losing streak - sealed the veteran coach’s fate.

“This was a very difficult decision to make,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in a statement. “It is one that I felt was necessary at this time. I am very appreciative of the hard work and effort that P.J. gave to this team and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Brooks began his coaching career as an assistant with the Nuggets in 2003, and also made a stop in Sacramento before joining Carlesimo’s staff in Seattle last season. He also played point guard for 11 seasons, winning an NBA title with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and playing for seven different teams.

While not much is expected of the Thunder, the hope is Brooks will inject a more positive attitude after Carlesimo’s questioning of his team’s effort only seemed to make the Thunder spiral further downward. Oklahoma City trailed by as many as 32 in Friday’s loss, committed a season-high 26 turnovers and shot a season-low 36.6 percent.

Oklahoma City’s Nick Collison had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and suggested the team should stay positive by taking a step back and realizing they can’t complain when other people are losing their jobs in a fading economy.

“No one should feel sorry for us,” Collison said. “We’re in a good situation. We’ve just got to try to play the best we can. That’s all we can really do. We can’t control much else.”

The franchise last lost 11 consecutive games March 4-22, and the franchise record of 14 also was set last season from Dec. 31-Jan. 27.

The Hornets (6-5), who were relocated to Oklahoma City for two seasons due to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans in 2005, nearly had the home-court advantage on Friday. Chris Paul had 17 points, six assists and six rebounds, while David West finished with 19 points and eight rebounds.

“We know we still have fans here and we still love this city and the way that they treated us while we were here,” New Orleans coach Byron Scott said.

Friday’s victory also got the Hornets back above .500, and they’ll now try to win back-to-back games for the first time since starting the season 3-0.

“One game doesn’t solve all our problems, but we’re trying to get on a roll here,” Scott said.

New Orleans has lofty goals this season after winning the franchise’s first division title, and advancing to the Western Conference semifinals in 2007-08.

“I think we have a really good team, a really special team. A few of the guys from when we were here, but we’re a championship-caliber team when we put our mind to it,” said Paul, who won the Rookie of the Year award in his first season in Oklahoma City in 2005-06.

New Orleans has won six straight games over the Oklahoma City franchise, and its last six home games against them.