Celtics expect to resume play Friday vs. Magic

The Boston Celtics have had three consecutive games postponed because of complications linked with COVID-19 cases and subsequent quarantines. 

There's some good news for Boston fans, though, as the Associated Press (h/t ESPN) explained that the Celtics expect to return to action for Friday's matchup versus the Orlando Magic. 

Boston's contest against the Miami Heat scheduled for last Sunday was scrapped because the Heat couldn't dress the required league minimum of eight players for their active roster. The Celtics were then left short for Tuesday's game at the Chicago Bulls and Wednesday's showdown with the Magic.

"I think that our players are all doing well," Celtics general manager Danny Ainge said during a Thursday interview with radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub. "We have some that are in contact tracing also. All of our players are doing well, and it looks like we're going to be able to play a game tomorrow. But we still have 17 more tests to do between now and then.

"Each of these tests, you're just on pins and needles, right now, the way that our society has gone."

On Wednesday, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association announced that 16 players tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week, alone. As of the posting of this piece, nine games have been postponed because of coronavirus-related issues since the season tipped off on Dec. 22.