With more games postponed, NBA scheduling special call to address COVID restrictions

The NBA announced that they would postpone another two games due to COVID-19 protocols, calling off Monday’s matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans and Tuesday’s tilt between the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics. 

It’s the second time in as many days that games had to be postponed, the league stopping the Miami Heat and Celtics from playing Sunday because of contact-tracing issues with the Heat.

The Heat is expected to play on Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers, who were forced to face the Denver Nuggets with just eight players available after Seth Curry tested positive.

In total, four games have been postponed this year as the virus tightens its grip on the league, which opted not to return to a bubble format or tweak its schedule and travel restrictions for the 2020-21 season, only opting to shorten it to 72 games because of its late start. 

As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported over the weekend, the NBA has no plans on pausing the season. 

“We anticipated that there would be game postponements this season and planned the schedule accordingly,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told Wojnarowski. “There are no plans to pause the season, and we will continue to be guided by our medical experts and health and safety protocols.”

“They tell us it’ll be better later in the season, but I just hope this doesn’t break the league in the next few weeks,” one general manager added.

On Monday, however, Wojnarowski reported that the league has scheduled a special Board of Governors meeting for Tuesday where “tightening protocols… re-examining shootarounds and practice lengths, pre-and-post-game socializing on-court, further restrictions on restaurant dining and tighter rules on mask-wearing” are expected to be discussed.