Heat’s opponents on trip impacted by COVID-19 issues, starting with Wizards and Beal
The Miami Heat’s current four-game trip will come against teams recently hit by COVID-19 issues.
It began with Saturday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards, which had to play the Heat without star guard Bradley Beal because of the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Beal was forced to miss the contest because of contact tracing exposure to Boston Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum stemming from Friday’s game between the Wizards and Celtics, according to Shams Charania from The Athletic.
Charania reported Saturday that Tatum is expected to enter quarantine and miss 10 to 14 days because of the league’s health and safety protocols. Tatum tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday and was awaiting a confirmation test, according to Mark Murphy from the Boston Herald.
After Saturday’s matchup against the Wizards, the Heat continues its trip with a Sunday night game against the Celtics before closing it out with two games against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday and Thursday.
The Celtics and 76ers will also both be shorthanded because of players testing positive for COVID-19 and contact tracing related to the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
“I think this right now is a reflection of the virus everywhere in the states,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Saturday’s game against the Wizards. “The numbers are spiking. That is the reality. We are committed to proceeding with our industry. Now we’re doing it with all of the best science and adherence to the protocols, but it’s sobering because ultimately we’re not in control and there are going to be instances like we’ve seen where there potentially could be multiple players out.”
As of Saturday evening, the Heat’s games against the Celtics and 76ers were still expected to be played as originally scheduled. The NBA requires each team to have eight available players to proceed with the game.
Boston will likely be very close to that eight-player minimum, though.
The Celtics are expected to be without Tatum, who is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game, against the Heat because of health and safety protocols.
The Celtics have already ruled out center Robert Williams, who The Boston Globe reported tested positive for COVID-19. Boston will also be without forwards Tristan Thompson and Grant Williams because of contact tracing.
In addition, the Celtics listed Semi Ojeleye, Jaylen Brown and Javonte Green as questionable because of health and safety protocols.
Boston has also already ruled out Kemba Walker (left knee injury recovery) and Romeo Langford (right wrist surgery) for Sunday’s game against the Heat.
But there are eight Celtics players who were not on Saturday’s injury report: Carsen Edwards, Tacko Fall, Aaron Nesmith, Payton Pritchard, Marcus Smart, Jeff Teague, Daniel Theis and Tremont Waters. That would be just enough for Boston to be able to play Sunday’s game against Miami.
Meanwhile, the 76ers will be without guard Seth Curry, who reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Philadelphia could also be without Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle and Vincent Poirier, who all missed Saturday’s game against the Denver Nuggets reportedly because of contact tracing.
The 76ers took on the Nuggets on Saturday with only eight active players.
Players out because of contract tracing are expected to be sidelined for seven days in most cases.
The Heat hosted the Celtics on Wednesday. Tatum, Brown, Ojeleye, Thompson, Grant Williams and Robert Williams all played in the game, which Boston won 107-105.
As of Saturday, Miami did not have any players whose status was in question because of the league’s health and safety protocols. The Heat had its full roster available for its game against the Wizards.
Washington, which took on Philadelphia on Wednesday and Boston on Friday, only had Beal unavailable on Saturday because of health and safety protocols. Wizards guard Russell Westbrook also did not play against the Heat, but it was because of left quadriceps soreness.
NO SKYFORCE THIS SEASON
The Heat formally announced Friday that its G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, will not participate in the upcoming season. The NBA’s G League will begin the 2020-21 season, with 18 teams participating, in February at a single-site location at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista.
Despite this season’s decision, the Heat remains committed to the Skyforce moving forward.
“After our run to the NBA Finals and with the quick turnaround to the 2020-21 season, we made the decision to not participate in the upcoming G League single-site restart,” Heat general manager Andy Elisburg said in a statement. “We are very proud of the Sioux Falls Skyforce and our history in the G League and plan to resume play in Sioux Falls as soon as we are able to return.”
NBA teams without a G League affiliate playing this season can assign roster players and transfer two-way players to work with other G League teams, under the league’s flexible assignment and two-way rules. The Heat’s current two-way contract players are Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, who are allowed to be active for up to 50 of their team’s 72 NBA games during this season amid the roster uncertainty stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 2:39 PM.
