The NBA has postponed San Antonio Spurs’ next three games after four players on the team tested positive for COVID-19, the league announced Tuesday.
The Charlotte Hornets, who played for the Spurs on Sunday, are on track for contacts and will have the next two games postponed, the NBA said.
Spurs have been quarantined in Charlotte since Sunday’s game, say Adrian Wojnarowski’s ESPN sources.
The San Antonio-affected games were scheduled for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, the New York Knicks on Saturday and the Indiana Pacers next Monday.
The next possible game in San Antonio is Feb. 24 at the Oklahoma City Thunder, which means the Spurs will have more than a week between competitions – joining the Washington Wizards and the Memphis Grizzlies as teams to endure such a situation this season.
The affected Hornets games were scheduled Wednesday against the Chicago Bulls and Friday against the Denver Nuggets.
Charlotte’s next possible game is now Saturday at home against the Golden State Warriors, in what would be Stephen Curry’s annual return to North Carolina, where he grew up.
The postponements announced Tuesday push the total of games that have been moved back this season due to positive tests or contact tracking issues at 29, including Spurs’ game at the Detroit Pistons that was to be played on Tuesday night. The NBA canceled the game Monday.
The NBA does not disclose which players gave positive results, but its announcement of the latest postponements said that Spurs had positive tests among the players – and did not mention the coaches. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich announced last month, at the age of 72, that he had received the vaccine that protects against the effects of COVID-19.
The Spurs were without guard Quinndary Weatherspoon for their game Sunday against Charlotte due to the league’s COVID-19 protocols; Weatherspoon played 10 minutes Friday in Atlanta against the Hawks, then was signaled by protocols over the weekend.
Being excluded because of the protocols can suggest any number of things, including a positive test, a positive suspicious test, or contact tracking data that shows that a player could have been exposed to a person with COVID-19.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.