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Tim BontempsESPN
Two days after the Toronto Raptors defeated the Houston Rockets with several coaches – including head coach Nick Nurse – and star striker Pascal Siakam, who sat down due to NBA health and safety protocols, the Raptors postponed the game. Sunday night against the Chicago Bulls because they couldn’t win the eight players needed.
Now, it’s unclear whether Toronto will be able to return to the court before the All-Star Break break begins next weekend. The Raptors are scheduled to host the Detroit Pistons Tuesday before traveling to Boston to play the Celtics in their final game before the break.
There’s no word yet on whether Houston’s Sunday night Rockets game against the Memphis Grizzlies will have to be postponed due to what happens to the Raptors.
Following the announcement of the Nurse, his coaching staff and Siakam being unavailable for Friday’s game, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said the NBA – which determines whether or not the games will be played – has finally determined that his testing schedule was rigorous enough that he would be safe to play the Raptors and Rockets.
“I talked to the NBA,” Webster said. “One way to think about this is that we are tested twice in the morning, and therefore if these tests come back negative, this gives you permission to participate in activities that day, and then you can take tests later in the day. day, if you are worried about it. I think once the negative tests came back this afternoon, I think that gave the NBA the comfort that at least for today we are clear. “
And while the Raptors won Friday with veteran assistant Sergio Scariolo, who was head coach for the first time in an NBA game – after a decorated European and international career, including coaching at Real Madrid and, for more than a decade, leading the Spanish national team – it turned out to be clear just for that game.
This will be the first test of the NBA’s attempt to try to bring each team to 72 games played this season. The league launched its program for the second half of the season last week, one that saw several teams try to block many games in a small number of days. In the Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs cases, they are scheduled to play 40 games in 68 days.
Toronto, on the other hand, was scheduled to play 36 games in 67 days. This number will now increase by at least one and potentially by up to three. Although the NBA’s goal is for each team to play its 72 scheduled games, sources said the league is aware that all 30 teams may not be able to reach that number. There is limited flexibility in the program to add games or add dates to the calendar, as the NBA wants to complete the playoffs in time before the scheduled start of the Olympics in late July.
The league will host a truncated weekend in Atlanta in a week today, combining its Saturday night events (skill challenge, 3-point contest and slam dunk contest) and All-Star game in one night in front of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the league has significantly strengthened its health and safety protocols over the past few weeks to try to mitigate the spread of the virus. For several weeks it seemed to prevent outbreaks of the entire team, but in the last two weeks the Spurs, Charlotte Hornets and now the Raptors have had several games postponed due to the virus.