The Philadelphia 76ers game against the Denver Nuggets will be played Saturday as planned, sources told ESPN, after several Sixers players were part of the contact tracing.
The 76ers are expected to have nine eligible players for Saturday’s game, including three out of protocol: Joel Embiid, Danny Green and Paul Reed, sources told ESPN.
The approval of the safety and health protocol does not guarantee that Embiid will play on Saturday, only that he counts as an eligible player for the eight needed for Philadelphia to avoid the postponement.
Several Sixers, including Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, Shake Milton and Vincent Poirier, remain in safety and health protocols and will continue in quarantine indefinitely, sources said.
Saturday afternoon’s game had a chance to be the second postponement of the NBA season related to the coronavirus, due to the shared closeness of some 76ers players to protect Seth Curry, who tested positive for COVID-19, sources told ESPN.
The Sixers also had a positive member in the positive test on Friday, a source told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Denver has its own COVID-19 numbers. The Nuggets flew to Philadelphia on Friday without talented young striker Michael Porter Jr., who remains out of safety and health protocols indefinitely, sources said.