Inconclusive virus tests lead to semifinal opener’s postponement

BRADENTON, Fla. — The opener of the WNBA playoff semifinal series between the Seattle Storm and the Minnesota Lynx was postponed nearly 90 minutes before its scheduled tipoff Sunday because of inconclusive COVID-19 test results for Storm players.

The players with inconclusive results have undergone additional testing and were in isolation, according to the WNBA.

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was at a hotel when she found out about the inconclusive results and boarded the Storm’s bus to let them know.

“We needed more testing and data,” Engelbert said in a TV interview. “As soon as I talked to them, they were concerned about health and safety, and it wasn’t about basketball at that point.”

The Lynx already had arrived at the arena, and some of the players had been warming up when they were told the game was postponed.

“This is the hardest part of COVID-19 of putting on live sports,” Engelbert said. “Every day you’re reset to zero. Keeping the bubble safe and making sure there’s no community spread. The purpose of a testing program and protocols is to pull anyone out before they are infectious.”

The league didn’t immediately announce when Game 1 of the best-of-five series would be played. Game 2 was scheduled for Tuesday night.

“We want to make sure we have all the data and testing if someone is affected with COVID,” Engelbert said. “We can isolate them and take care of their safety. Hopefully we’ll get good data over the next 24 to 48 hours. Hopefully get back on the court for Game 1 on Tuesday.”

The WNBA made it through the regular season with a few false positive tests for the coronavirus, but no players developed COVID-19 once the season started. The season is being played inside a bubble environment at IMG Academy. Everyone in the bubble has been tested for the virus every day.

“You have to follow your gut and instinct and data and science,” Engelbert said. “Everything has worked in the bubble because we followed the science.”

In the Game 1 that was played, Jasmine Thomas had a career-high 31 points, Alyssa Thomas scored 18, and the seventh-seeded Connecticut Sun pulled away early and cruised to an 87-62 win over the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces. Alyssa Thomas had six rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocks.

A’ja Wilson led the Aces with 19 points and Jackie Young scored 16. Game 2 is Tuesday.