Virus protocols leave Raptors short

The Raptors were without six members of their coaching staff, including head coach Nick Nurse, and starting forward Pascal Siakam for Friday night’s game against the Rockets in accordance with the NBA’s health and safety protocols regarding the coronavirus.

Assistant coach Sergio Scariolo was promoted to coach the team’s game in Tampa, Florida, against the Rockets.

The Raptors said Nurse and the remainder of his staff will continue to work remotely.

Scariolo had been away from the Raptors while coaching Spain in FIBA’s EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers and just cleared quarantine Friday.

The Raptors were considering other options if he was not cleared to coach in time, including bringing their GLeague staff from that league’s bubble season, currently going on in Lake Buena Vista, Florida — about an hour from Tampa. The Raptors lost an assistant coach last weekend when Chris Finch was hired as the Timberwolves’ head coach.

“I don’t know how many hundreds or thousands of games he’s been a head coach,” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said. “But it’s unique, and he acknowledged that much, especially under the circumstances.”

Nets star Kevin Durant’s “mild” left hamstring strain is more severe than originally expecte. A routine follow-up MRI determined Durant requires “an additional recovery period” that will keep him out through the March 5-10 NBAAll-Star break. Commissioner Adam Silver announced Pacers star Domantas Sabonis as Durant’s

injury replacement for the All-Star Game.

College basketball: Wichita State removed the interim tag from coach Isaac Brown’s title Friday, agreeing in principle to a fiveyear deal with the longtime assistant who took a program in chaos to the top of the American Athletic Conference this season. The Shockers (13-4, 9-2) head into the weekend with a slim conference lead — mere percentage points — over No. 12 Houston, which it beat last week for one of the biggest home victories in school history. They haven’t lost since Jan. 21, winning five straight while navigating COVID-19 pauses that have forced four postponements.

Golf: Brooks Koepka hit one of his worst tee shots of the day that barely cleared the water on the 15th hole. That turned out to be the start of three straight birdies that led to a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead Friday in the Workday Championship. ... Annika Sorenstam went more than 12 years without playing on the LPGA Tour. Now she gets two more days. Sorenstam made three birdies after making the turn Friday at Lake Nona and posted a 1-under 71 in the Gainbridge LPGA. And even with the wrong ruling the previous day that led to an extra stroke, she still made the cut on the number. She still was 12 shots out of the lead as Lydia Ko posted a 3-under 69 and took a one-shot lead over Nelly Korda (68).

Soccer: Major League Soccer says Ron Burkle has backed out of plans for an expansion team in Sacramento, California, that was scheduled to start play in 2023. The league said in a statement Friday night that Burkle’s decision was “based on issues with the project related to COVID-19.”

Four straight away games down, one more to go — the last real road trip UConn has, in fact, before heading to San Antonio for the NCAA Tournament in March.

The No. 1 UConn Huskies take on the Butler Bulldogs (2-15, 2-14 Big East) on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in their second-to-last game of the regular season. The

The basics

Site: Hinkle Fieldhouse

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Series: UConn leads, 1-0

TV: SNY (Meghan Culmo and Allen Bestwick)

Radio: The River 105.9

Butler probable starters, sixth man:

Okako Adika, F, 6-0, Jr.; Genesis Parker, G, 5-8, R-Sr.; Tenley Dowell, G, 6-0, R-Fr.; Upe Atosu, G, 5-9, Sr.; Nyamer Diew, F, 6-1, Fr.; Micah Scheetz, G, 5-8, Gr.

UConn probable starters, sixth man:

Christyn Williams, G, 5-11, Jr.; Olivia Nelson-Ododa, F, 6-5, Jr.; Evina Westbrook, G, 6-0, R-Jr.; Paige Bueckers, G, 5-11, Fr.; Nika Muhl, G, 5-10, Fr.; Aaliyah Edwards, F, 6-3, Fr.

The matchup

UConn’s offense: Coming into form with the emergence of more weapons beyond Bueckers. Williams has had four straight games with 15-plus points, finishing at least 50 percent from the floor in the last three. Edwards has had a steady stretch, and is now fourth in the team in scoring (9.7 points per game) slightly ahead of Westbrook. Muhl dropped a career-high 19 points Thursday at

Huskies previously demolished Butler 103-35 at home. The Bulldogs’ pair of wins came against Georgetown and Xavier, and they’re the second-worst team in the league standings.

Here’s what you need to know about today’s matchup:

Creighton. Against Butler the first time around, UConn’s starting five (which included Aubrey Griffin) all managed double figures.

UConn’s defense: When they played Butler in January, UConn forced 32 turnovers, which was over twice the amount of field goals the Bulldogs made. The Huskies made Butler pay on the other end too, dominating Butler 46-2 in points off turnovers. The Huskies’ defense has grown a lot in the last month and they had impressive defensive outings in conference play against St. John’s and Xavier most recently.

Butler’s offense: The Bulldogs like to shoot a lot of threes — 37.5 percent of their points come from beyond the arc, though they only hit 30.4 percent of their threes. Against UConn in January, only three players scored for Butler: Adika (18 points), Parker (15) and Dowell (2). Adika leads Butler in scoring with 13.4 points per game, while Parker adds 12.7. The team averages 54.6 points per game on

35.3 percent shooting.

Butler’s defense: Statistically one of the worst in the nation, allowing 75.8 points per game on 46.2 percent shooting. Butler has the worst scoring margin (-21.2 points) and rebounding margin (-8.2 rebounds) in the Big East. When they last met, UConn had no issues putting points on the board,

finishing with their second-best offensive output of the season (103 points).

UConn keys: Fine tune things going into final stretch of regular season games; have better offensive execution than they had at Creighton, and don’t play rushed

Players to watch: Freshman

Mir McLean has fallen out of the regulation rotation, which may be at least in part due to Auriemma already having seven players (not including Anna Makurat) to tinker with and who he wants playing significant minutes. Against an overmatched opponent in Butler, can McLean get some more minutes and improve her comfort level out on the floor?

About Butler’s coach: Kurt Godlevske is in his seventh season. After earning Big East Coach of the Year in 2018-19 following a 23-10 season, he guided the Bulldogs within reach of another 20-win campaign in 2019-20 before the cancellation of the postseason.

Butler’s mascot: Butler Blue IV Famous alumni: Former college basketball coach Thad Matta, basketball player and inspiration for the film Hoosiers Bobby Plump, former race car driver Sarah Fisher