The NBA called off the Denver Nuggets’ game against the Detroit Pistons just minutes before it was set to tip off on Monday night.
The league said that the Pistons did not have the required number of players to participate due to ongoing COVID-19 contact tracing within the organization.
The NBA just announced its 23rd postponement of the season … and its first in February after 21 last month: Detroit at Denver tonight is off because the Pistons, due to contact tracing, can’t dress the requisite eight players … pic.twitter.com/aN8GA3KRic
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 2, 2021
The contact tracing started after a Pistons player returned either a positive or inconclusive coronavirus test on Monday afternoon, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Pistons were reportedly watching film together when the news came down.
The game marks the 23rd that the league has postponed already this season due to the coronavirus. All but two of those postponements came in January.
The Pistons are in the middle of a five-game road trip, which started with Saturday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco. They are set to take on the Utah Jazz on Tuesday before making the trip to Phoenix and ending in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Saturday. It’s unclear how they will finish the trip.
The Nuggets beat the Jazz 128-117 on Sunday behind a 47-point outing from Nikola Jokic, which snapped Utah’s 11-game win streak. They are now scheduled to travel to the Lakers next on Thursday.
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Originally published