The Washington Wizards’ matchup with the Detroit Pistons on Friday has been postponed, the NBA announced Wednesday night, due to coronavirus issues within Washington’s organization.
The Wizards do not have the league-mandated eight healthy players available to play the game because of contact tracing efforts, leading to their second straight postponement. On Tuesday morning, coach Scott Brooks learned two players had entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols — Rui Hachimura and Moritz Wagner.
At the time, Brooks said he didn’t think Wednesday’s contest against the Utah Jazz would be impacted. But that game was postponed Tuesday night, and now Friday’s matchup follows. The Wizards have not released if there have been positive tests, although ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday that there are positive tests on the roster.
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) January 13, 2021
The NBA is currently struggling with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic within the league, and Washington had faced multiple teams in the past week and a half that ended up having players enter the health and safety protocols, including the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics and Miami Heat.
Bradley Beal missed Saturday’s game against the heat because of the health and safety protocols, but he returned for Monday’s win against the Phoenix Suns. The Suns have since had both their Wednesday and Friday games postponed because the team has fewer than eight available players.
The NBA and NBA Players’ Association agreed to more stringent COVID-19 measures on Tuesday.
• Andy Kostka can be reached at akostka@washingtontimes.com.
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