NBA COVID Outbreak May Effect Christmas Games

The NBA announced that COVID-19 lineup changes may move game times on Christmas day for the 10 teams who are scheduled to play.

The ABC windows are the league’s priority. Those games are currently set to be the Boston Celtics at the Milwaukee Bucks at 2:30 p.m., Golden State Warriors playing the Phoenix Suns at 5 p.m. and the Brooklyn Nets versus the Los Angeles Lakers at 8 p.m.

The other two games are scheduled to air on ESPN at noon and 10:30 pm, with the Atlanta Hawks taking on the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks at the Utah Jazz.

The Nets still have the league’s highest number of players unavailable in COVID-19 protocol with 10. Those 10 players include Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. The Nets have already had two games postponed. Out of the 10 teams, the Suns and Jazz do not have a player in COVID protocol as of Tuesday.

Teams with missing players could get some of them back by Christmas. The current rules are that each person who tests positive must quarantine for 10 days or have two negative PCR tests taken at least 24 hours apart. Notably, the Nets could regain Harden as he entered protocol on December 14.

Decisions on game times could be up in the air as late as Friday. If there is a gameday decision to postpone a game, it won’t affect the other games on Christmas day.

Commissioner Adam Silver also announced today that even though some teams are struggling to stay healthy, there are no plans to pause the season.

“This virus will not be eradicated, and we’re going to have to learn to live with it,” Silver said.