The Mercury News

COVID-19 still in play as 2nd half heats up

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While LeBron James was largely resting through the All-Star Game, the Brooklyn Nets were adding another piece for a run at his title.

With James still near the top of his game and the Nets on top of the league in scoring, it’s easy to envision a coast-to-coast NBA Finals when a champion is crowned in July.

But, when most teams resume play Thursday — the same date last season was suspended — the leaders in the Eastern Conference might be doing so without their two best players.

As proven again when Philadelph­ia’s Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons had to sit out the All-Star Game, the coronaviru­s might still have a say on this season, making uncertaint­y a sizable obstacle in the title chase.

“You’re playing every other day. You don’t know when you’re going to have practice time. You don’t know as far as what the restrictio­ns and with COVID and things of that nature if you’re going to have all your guys,” James said. “So it’s very challengin­g for all teams, not just us.”

The bigger problem for the Lakers has been the absence of All-Star Anthony Davis because of a right calf injury. The defending champions have struggled without him, dropping six of eight to end the first half and falling 31/2 games behind surprising West leader Utah.

The Nets have also been without an All-Star, though they’ve hardly missed Kevin Durant because of the brilliance of James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

Blake Griffin agreed to join them Sunday night after the six-time All-Star cleared waivers after securing his buyout from Detroit.

Brooklyn comes out of the break a half-game behind Philadelph­ia. Embiid has been a force this season and become a leading MVP candidate, but he and Simmons were ruled out of the All-Star Game on Sunday morning because they got haircuts from a barber who tested positive for COVID-19.

They may not be cleared to return until the weekend, after the Sixers have played their first two games of the second half.

Teams are used to it after a first half in which the unavailabi­lity of players and coaches because of health and safety protocols forced 31 games to be called off. For every team, the first big test of the second half is the coronaviru­s one that will determine who is good to go upon returning from break.

Once that’s finished, teams can look ahead to a busy and exciting stretch run. With many clubs bunched in the standings and another play-in tournament opening up additional paths to the postseason, even teams that weren’t as sharp as they hoped in the first half have reason for hope.

That includes teams such as Miami and Boston — last season’s Eastern Conference finalists — plus Dallas and Golden State, all at or barely above .500 but perhaps just one hot streak from a nice leap up the standings. WARRIORS ADVANCE IN G LEAGUE PLAYOFFS >> A xel Toupane scored 24 points and Jeremy Lin had 12 points, eight assists and five rebounds to lead the Santa Cruz Warriors to a 110-81 quarterfin­al victory over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

The Warriors will face the Lakeland Magic today at 4 p.m. in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the G League Ignite from Walnut Creek saw its season come to a close in a 127102 loss to the top-seeded Raptors 905.

Teen-age phenom Jalen Green scored a careerhigh 30 points to lead the Ignite. Green, one of the top-rated prospects for next year’s NBA Draft, also had seven assists.

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