The NBA has rescheduled all 11 games that were postponed in December for virus-related reasons and changed the times or dates of 10 other games to accommodate those changes.
Toronto has six games affected, Chicago has five and Brooklyn has four. In total, 18 of the league’s 30 teams have had at least one match day changed due to postponement or future adjustment, all of which were revealed on Monday.
There are now seven teams that have at least one four-game play in five nights: Chicago, Toronto, Brooklyn, Cleveland, Miami, New Orleans and Denver. The original NBA schedule did not require any such time period, although changes were inevitable.
“The goal and priority here is to avoid teams that play three games in three nights and find an average approach,” said Evan Wasch, NBA vice president, who helps oversee the league’s schedule.
The Nets – who were unable to play at Portland last month because they were short of nearly a dozen players with virus-related problems – have a most unusual schedule coming next week.
Brooklyn will play Sunday against San Antonio at home – then will fly across the country to play a game scheduled in Portland the next day, Jan. 10. After that, the Nets return to the East and visit Chicago on January 12.
To accommodate the requirements of that Portland trip, the NBA moved Sunday’s Spurs-at-Nets game to noon Eastern. The teams were scheduled to play a game at night, but now the Nets will be in Portland late Sunday night.
There are a few other options for that Nets-Blazers game, Wasch said, but letting it play on January 10 is best for everyone involved.
“The main reason for releasing these now is because we want to make sure that the teams have at least a week’s notice of any postponement, from a travel perspective, basketball plans, business perspective. sales, ticket sales, all that,” Wasch said. “It makes sense to do it now.”
Simply plugging the postponed games into the calendar could be done, Wasch said, but moving other games opens up more possibilities and avoids the dreaded three-game, three-night stretch. .
“We also don’t want to massively disrupt the current schedule,” Wasch said.
Among other changes: the expected return of former Raptors guard Kyle Lowry to Toronto. It was scheduled for February 3 and will now take place on February 1, when Miami is now expected to make its first appearance there this season. It’s not yet clear if fans will be in for that match; Officials in Ontario limited attendance to 1,000 people at the Raptors’ home ground.
And the All-Star break for Brooklyn and Washington is a day shorter, with the league rescheduling the Wizards-at-Nets match postponed to February 17. Both teams were originally scheduled to play. the final against the All-Star the day before.
The NBA had just under 90 players known to be compliant with coronavirus-related health and safety regulations as of Monday afternoon, a significant drop from midweek last when the roster peaked at 125 players. There are also dozens of head coaches, assistant coaches and team staff in the protocols.
“We think we’re about to get over the meaty hump of the postponements,” said Wasch. “Hopefully, knocking on the wood, we won’t have any. But we certainly don’t expect another rash on their part like we’ve had, and so we think it makes perfect sense to put those 11 games back on the schedule. ”
Deferred game changes, listed in the order of the original schedule:
– Detroit at Chicago, scheduled for December 14, will be broadcast on January 10.
– Chicago at Toronto, scheduled for December 16, will be broadcast on February 3.
– New Orleans in Philadelphia, scheduled for December 19, will be played on January 25.
– Denver at Brooklyn, scheduled for December 19, will be broadcast on January 26.
– Cleveland at Atlanta, scheduled for December 19, will be broadcast on March 31.
– Orlando at Toronto, scheduled for December 20, will be played on March 4.
– Washington at Brooklyn, scheduled for December 21, will be broadcast on February 17.
– Toronto at Chicago, scheduled for December 22, will be broadcast on January 26.
– Brooklyn at Portland, scheduled for December 23, will be broadcast on January 10.
– Miami at San Antonio, scheduled for December 29, will be played on February 3.
– Golden State at Denver, scheduled for December 30, will be played on March 7.
Other changes:
– Phoenix at Detroit, scheduled for January 12, will be broadcast on January 16.
– Philadelphia at Houston, scheduled for January 24, will be played on January 10.
– Chicago at Atlanta, scheduled for January 24, will be broadcast on March 3.
– Chicago at Oklahoma City, scheduled for January 26, will be played on January 24.
– Toronto at Brooklyn, scheduled for January 26, will be broadcast on February 28.
– Denver at New Orleans, scheduled for January 26, will be broadcast on January 28.
– Toronto at Atlanta, scheduled for February 1, will be broadcast on January 31.
– Miami at Toronto, scheduled for February 3, will be broadcast on February 1.
Change time:
– San Antonio in Brooklyn, January 9, moved to noon Eastern (at 7:30 p.m.)
– Boston in New Orleans, January 29, shifts to 7 p.m. Eastern (it’s 6 p.m.)
