The NBA has postponed San Antonio Spurs’ next three games after four of the team’s players tested positive for COVID-19, the league announced Tuesday.
The Charlotte Hornets, who played Spurs on Sunday, is on track for contacts and the next two games will be postponed, the NBA said.
Spurs have been in quarantine in Charlotte since Sunday’s game, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The affected Spurs games were scheduled Wednesday in Cleveland against the Cavaliers, Saturday in New York against the Knicks and next Monday at the Indiana Pacers.
The games affected by the Hornets 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 on Tuesday push to 29 the total number of games that have been postponed this season due to positive tests or contact tracking issues, including the Spurs’ Detroit vs. Pistons game, which was to be played on Tuesday night. The NBA canceled that game Monday.
Detroit will now play Chicago on Wednesday and Denver will play Cleveland on Friday, the NBA said. Both games were originally intended for the second half of the season. The NBA said it will shuffle some games, when possible, to meet the need to reschedule games in the second half of the season.
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.
Spurs were without goalkeeper Quinndary Weatherspoon for Sunday’s game against Charlotte due to the league’s COVID-19 protocols; Weatherspoon played 10 minutes Friday in Atlanta against the Hawks, then was selected by protocols over the weekend.
Being excluded because of the protocols may suggest a number of things, including a positive test, a suspicious positive test, or contact tracking data that shows that a player may have been exposed to a person with COVID-19.