Heat-celtics game postponed by NBA due to virus protocols

The NBA is continuing its season as planned even after concerns about COVID-19 exposure forced the postponement of Miami’s game at Boston on Sunday, a day where no fewer than 15 players around the league were officially declared unable to play for virusrelated reasons.

The Celtics had seven of those players and Miami had another. But after Heat guard Avery Bradley was ruled out for Sunday — his test result was not announced, just his status — the rest of the Miami players needed their contact- tracing data analyzed to determine if they had been potentially exposed.

That process would not have been completed in time for the 7 p.m. game, so the league called it off. Boston was preparing to play the game with eight available players; the Celtics have 17 on their roster, seven were out due to the COVID-19 protocols and two more with injuries.

Meanwhile, the Heat simply were not cleared to play anyone.

“We anticipated that there would be game postponements this season and planned the schedule accordingly,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement distributed to The Associated Press and other outlets. “There are no plans to pause the season, and we will continue to be guided by our medical experts and health and safety protocols.”

The NBA had 148 games on the schedule so far through Sunday; the Boston-miami game was only the second to be postponed for virusrelated reasons. The other was Dec. 23, an Oklahoma City at Houston game where the Rockets did not have the required eight players available.

But many teams are feeling the effects of missing players because of testing or other possible exposure.