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Of the 455 players tested for COVID-19 since Feb 17, 2 new players have returned confirmed positive tests.
Anyone who has returned a confirmed positive test, or has been identified as having been in close contact to an infected person, is isolated or quarantined until they are cleared under the rules established by the NBA and the Players Association in accordance with CDC guidance.
The San Antonio Spurs’ next three games (Wednesday, Feb. 17 at Cleveland; Saturday, Feb. 20 at New York and Monday, Feb. 22 at Indiana) and the Charlotte Hornets’ next two games (Wednesday, Feb. 17 vs. Chicago and Friday, Feb. 19 vs. Denver) have been postponed in accordance with the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols.
The games are being postponed due to four Spurs players testing positive and additional contact tracing for players on both San Antonio’s and Charlotte’s rosters, and in order to ensure the health and safety of players on both teams.
The National Basketball Association game scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 16, between the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena has been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
Due to a positive test within the Spurs and subsequent contact tracing, the team does not have the league-required eight available players to proceed with tomorrow’s game against the Pistons.
The Nets are getting Kevin Durant back in time for tomorrow’s game against Stephon Curry, Draymond Green and the Warriors. Via the NY Post:
The Nets superstar rejoined the team for practice Friday, following a six-day quarantine with negative COVID-19 tests after he came into contact with someone who tested positive for the virus last Friday. He will be a full go for Saturday night’s game against the Warriors as the Nets tip off a five-game West Coast road trip…
The week off marked Durant’s second COVID-19 quarantine of the season, though this one was much messier. He was a late scratch for the start of last Friday’s game against the Raptors because of an inconclusive COVID-19 test for the person he came into contact with, then was allowed to play late in the first quarter. But Durant was eventually taken off the floor in the third quarter when that person’s COVID-19 test came back positive.
The Nets are 15-12 this season. A record good enough for 3rd best in an Eastern conference with just four teams with records above .500 through Thursday’s games.
Miami’s third leading scorer is set to return tomorrow. Via the Sun Sentinel:
Tyler Herro is back with the Miami Heat after another pit stop in the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Held out of Thursday night’s 101-94 victory over the Houston Rockets at the start of the Heat’s seven-game trip, Herro was on the team flight to Salt Lake City, where the Heat will face the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.
While it was the first game Herro missed this season due to pandemic protocols, he previously was held out of a practice at AmericanAirlines Arena, after a housemate tested positive, with that ultimately proving to be a false positive.
The Heat are 11-14 this season. Their leading scorers are Bam Adebayo at 19.7 points per game, Jimmy Butler at 19.5 ppg, and Herro at 17.0 ppg.
The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday that they will finish the 2020-21 season in Tampa, Florida. Because of ongoing border restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and mindful of public safety measures in Canada, the team has decided they will continue to play their home games at Amalie Arena.
“Florida has been really welcoming to us and we’re so grateful for the hospitality we’ve found in Tampa and at Amalie – we’re living in a city of champions, and we intend to carry on the tradition of winning for our new friends and fans here,” Raptors President Masai Ujiri said. “But home is where the heart is, and our hearts are in Toronto. We think often of our fans, of our Scotiabank Arena family, and all those we are missing back home, and we can’t wait until we can all be together again.”
The Raptors initially announced in November that Amalie Arena, in downtown Tampa, would serve as their home court for the first half of the 2020-21 season. A schedule release for the second half of the season is expected in the coming days.
New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced today that Barclays Center has been approved to reopen beginning Tuesday, Feb. 23, when the Nets take on the Sacramento Kings at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Following State guidelines, the venue will be limited to 10 percent capacity until further notice.
Per BSE Global, who manage and operate Barclays Center and the Nets, “Barclays Center will employ robust health and safety protocols that have been developed in coordination with the New York State Department of Health, the National Basketball Association and the Global Biorisk Advisory Council® (GBAC). These protocols include: a negative PCR test for all patrons, administered within 72 hours in advance of the game; mandatory temperature checks; social distancing and use of face masks; and thorough cleaning and sanitation procedures. To help further ensure the safety of Barclays Center fans and employees, the venue will also continue to provide COVID-19 testing to all arena employees prior to each game. Barclays Center has achieved GBAC STAR™ accreditation, the gold standard for prepared facilities.”
“Thank you to Governor Cuomo and his team at the Department of Health for collaborating with us in creating a robust health and safety plan that allows fans to return to our arena,” said BSE Global CEO John Abbamondi. “The Governor has played a tremendous role in getting New York businesses back on their feet and we are proud to announce that for the remainder of the season we are donating a portion of ticket proceeds to support vaccination efforts here in Brooklyn. We would also like to thank our fans for their support this season and we are looking forward to bringing their energy back to Barclays Center!”
The Phoenix Suns are increasing capacity for fans at the transformed Phoenix Suns Arena beginning with the team’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
After hosting 1,500 fans during games this week in two-person and four-person, socially distanced pods, the organization has decided to increase capacity to 3,000 fans, adding more two-person and four-person pods in the upper level of the arena, along with a limited number of floor seat pods.
In addition, the Suns are offering Party Pods for groups of four to six fans. Located in the private luxury suites at Phoenix Suns Arena, the Party Pods offer a choice of food and beverage packages, one parking pass for the group, a dedicated restroom within the suite, and a private shopping experience exclusively for Party Pod fans. Party Pods within suites represent 25 percent of normal capacity.
It was an unusual situation in Brooklyn tonight, centered around Nets star forward Kevin Durant.
Via the Toronto Star:
Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant was going to play, then wasn’t allowed to play, then got clearance to play and finally had to stop playing in the third quarter of a truly odd Nets-Raptors game in Brooklyn.
The Durant saga underscores the oddities in a testing/contact tracing world the NBA is trying to navigate through this regular season.
It put a damper on, and added considerable confusion to, a delightful offensive display by both teams but highlights the inherent difficulty with pulling off games and seasons with daily testing, contact tracing and other aspects of dealing with a raging pandemic.
The game itself was delightful as Kyle Lowry simply willed the Raptors to a 123-117 win with typical fourth-quarter brilliance.
Lowry finished with a season-high 30 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Pascal Siakam added 33 points as the Raptors played one of their best games of the season.
And the New York Post:
Kevin Durant was a last-minute scratch from the Nets’ starting lineup Friday night, then was inserted into the game late and finally pulled for good, all due to COVID-19 contact tracing.
Durant will not travel with the team to Philadelphia on Saturday, according to ESPN.
The NBA said in a statement that Durant was pulled from the game “out of an abundance of caution” after someone he interacted with tested positive for coronavirus after their initial test was inconclusive. The league also said Durant tested negative three times in the past 24 hours.
The entire world is learning to navigate through the the coronavirus pandemic. And it’s certainly a learning process for any event-based organizations, especially sports leagues. The NBA certainly has to examine exactly what happened today, and what to take away from this going forward.
Of the 482 NBA players the league has tested for COVID-19 since January 27, 2021, zero new players have returned confirmed positive tests.
The league says that anyone who has returned a confirmed positive test, or has been identified as having been in close contact to an infected person, is isolated or quarantined until they are cleared under the rules established by the NBA and the Players Association in accordance with CDC guidance.