The NBA postponed the next three games of the San Antonio Spurs after four players on the team tested positive for COVID-19, the league announced Tuesday.
The Charlotte Hornets, who played against the Spurs on Sunday, are undergoing contact tracking and their next two games will be postponed, the NBA said.
The Spurs have been quarantined in Charlotte since Sunday’s game, ESPN sources told Adrian Wojnarowski.
The affected Spurs games were scheduled for Wednesday in Cleveland against the Cavaliers, Saturday in New York against the Knicks and next Monday at the home of the Indiana Pacers.
The Hornets’ affected games were scheduled for Wednesday, against the Chicago Bulls, and Friday, against the Denver Nuggets.
Charlotte’s next possible game is now Saturday at home against the Golden State Warriors, in what would be Stephen Curry’s annual return to North Carolina, where he grew up.
Postponements announced Tuesday push to 29 the total number of games that have been delayed this season due to positive testing or contact tracking issues, including the Spurs game in Detroit against the Pistons that would be played Tuesday night. The NBA canceled that game Monday.
Detroit will now play Chicago on Wednesday and Denver will play Cleveland on Friday, the NBA said. Both games were originally intended for the second half of the season. The NBA has said it will shuffle some games, whenever possible, to accommodate the need to reschedule games in the second half of the season.
The NBA does not disclose which players tested positive, but its announcement of recent postponements said the Spurs had positive testing among players, and did not mention coaches. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich announced last month, if 72nd birthday, that he received the vaccine that protects against the effects of VOCID-19.
The Spurs were without baseman Quinndary Weatherspoon for their Sunday game against Charlotte because of the league’s COVID-19 protocols; Weatherspoon had played 10 minutes Friday in Atlanta against the Hawks, then was signaled by the protocols over the weekend.
Being ruled out because of the protocols may suggest a number of things, including a positive test, a suspicious positive test, or contact tracking data showing that a player may have been exposed to a person with COVID-19.