League calls off more games due to virus-related concerns
The NBA called off two more games because of COVID-related and contact-tracing issues on Monday, and the Miami Heat were preparing to be without eight players — including All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo — for several days because of possible exposure to the coronavirus.
Monday’s game in Dallas between the Mavericks and the New Orleans Pelicans was postponed by the league, as well as Tuesday’s matchup in Chicago between the Bulls and the Boston Celtics. The league’s general managers met Monday to discuss the virus situation, with involvement from the National Basketball Players Association. The NBA’s board of governors will meet Tuesday.
The latest postponements came one day after Miami’s game in Boston was called off because of contact-tracing issues within the Heat. The Celtics would have been without seven players for virus-related issues for that game. Miami’s Avery Bradley, who did not play in the NBA’s restart bubble last season out of concern about exposure to the virus, was also ruled out of that game because of the protocols.
“We’re in uncharted waters,” Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers said.
Added to the Heat list following contact tracing: Butler, Adebayo, Goran Dragic, Moe Harkless, Udonis Haslem, Kendrick Nunn and KZ Okpala.
That does not mean any tested positive, but that tracing showed they may have been exposed to a positive person. Some may be back in time for Miami’s home game Saturday against Detroit.
In games Monday: WIZARDS 128, SUNS 107 » Bradley Beal scored 34 points and the Washington Wizards snapped their three-game losing streak and won at home for the first time this season, beating the Phoenix Suns 128
107 over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
The Wizards (3-8), who had lost five straight at home, played without guard Russell Westbrook. He will miss at least a week with a left quadriceps injury.
Devin Booker lead Phoenix (7-4) with 33 points. Chris Paul had 14 points and 11 assists. Mikal Bridges also had
14.
Beal, the NBA’s leading scorer, had eight rebounds and nine assists. He missed Saturday’s game with Miami because he was in the NBA’s health and safety protocol.
In his previous two games, Beal scored 101 points, tying the team record with 60 points on Wednesday at Philadelphia and hitting for 40 at Boston on Saturday.
Washington never trailed and was ahead by 32 with 4:16 to play in the second quarter.
The Wizards played their first game without center
Thomas Bryant, who suffered a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Bryant injured the knee in the first two minutes of Saturday’s game and is likely to miss the rest of the season. HORNETS 109, KNICKS 88 » Gordon Hayward scored 34 points and the Charlotte Hornets beat the New York Knicks
109-88 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.
Devonte Graham had 19 points and seven assists for Charlotte, and P.J. Washington had 13 points as the Hornets handed the Knicks their third straight defeat.
Kevin Knox had 19 points to lead the Knicks, and Mitchell Robinson had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Hornets scored 24 points off 17 Knicks turnovers. Charlotte committed
10 turnovers while climbing above .500 for the first time this season.
LaMelo Ball, who became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double on Saturday night against the Hawks, was 3 of 13 from the field and finished with eight points, a career-high 14 rebounds and seven assists.
Hayward has been on fire for the Hornets during the team’s winning streak, averaging 29.2 points while shooting 55% from the floor and
92% from the foul line. He scored 28 points in the first half on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 10-of-10 shooting from the foul line to give the Hornets 57-50 lead at halftime. He finished 11 of 17 from the field.
BUCKS 121, MAGIC 99 » Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from a one-game absence because of a minor back injury and scored 22 points as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic 121-99 on Monday night.
Antetokounmpo, the reigning two-time NBA MVP, started slowly and battled through second-half foul trouble before coming alive in the fourth quarter. Milwaukee won a second straight and beat Orlando for a fifth consecutive time in the regular season.
Khris Middleton finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, while reserve Bobby Portis played well for a second straight game, scoring 20 points.
Nikola Vucevic had 28 points and 13 rebounds to lead the short-handed Magic, who have lost three straight since Markelle Fultz was lost to a season-ending knee injury. Aaron Gordon had 21 points, eight assists and five rebounds and contributed solid defense against Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee missed 17 of its first 24 3-point shots but drilled six 3s in the fourth quarter. Seconds after Gordon spectacularly dunked over Antetokounmpo to get the Magic within 88-86, Milwaukee’s superstar forward hit a straight-on 3-pointer that quieted the pandemic-restricted crowd of 3,248 and started a
22-2 Bucks run.