The Celtics-Bulls game scheduled for Monday night and Pelicans-Mavericks game scheduled for Tuesday have both been postponed in accordance with the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the league announced.
The NBA and NBPA will be meeting Monday about modifying protocols as COVID-19’s impact on the season escalates.
Saturday’s game between the Sixers and Nuggets happened despite head coach Doc Rivers only feeling comfortable using seven players. Mike Scott was active, meaning the Sixers met the NBA’s minimum requirement of eight players to avoid a postponement, but Rivers did not think Scott was fit to play because he’d been sidelined by a left knee contusion. Rivers didn’t believe the game should’ve been played, and there’s ample evidence to support his stance.
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SIGN UP HERE A noteworthy subplot from the Sixers-Nuggets game is the NBA announcing Monday that the Sixers have been fined $25,000 for not listing Ben Simmons on the team's initial injury report. Simmons missed the game with left knee swelling and is out for Monday’s game against the Hawks with the same injury. Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes and Vince Goodwill first reported the fine.
“Ben in the Brooklyn game had some knee stiffness,” Rivers said. “So we almost probably knew after the game that he wouldn’t play tonight.”
A scheduled Sunday night matchup between the Heat and Celtics was postponed because ongoing contact tracing prevented Miami from being able to field eight players. The Heat and Sixers have a mini-series scheduled in Philadelphia for Tuesday and Thursday nights.
Rookie Isaiah Joe played nearly 45 minutes Saturday after totaling 27 over the Sixers’ first nine games. He said he feels the Sixers are “doing a really good job of monitoring people,” and that the league is trying to do the best it can for the players.
NBA
“I do feel safe out there,” Joe said. “I feel like as players, if we didn’t feel safe, they wouldn’t put us in harm’s way to go out on the court and play. I really do trust the system that we’re using with this constant testing. I trust that the other teams are doing it the right way, as well. They’re doing a really good job of trying to find positive cases as soon as possible. Going out on the court, I feel like there are no worries on my end. I’m just going to continue to trust the process and continue to trust what this team’s doing.”
It’s a rapidly developing situation across the league, one that is currently not trending in a positive direction.