The Boston Celtics were going to be forced to play the Miami Heat Sunday night with only eight players available. Luckily for everyone's health and safety, the matchup has been postponed, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.
A Heat player returned an inconclusive test and the team does not have enough players available for tonight's game to go on as scheduled. It's unclear when they will make up the game.
The Boston Celtics-Miami Heat game tonight has been postponed, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. A Heat player has returned an inconclusive test, and team does not have required eight players to proceed with game tonight due to contact tracing.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 10, 2021
The Celtics were down to just Payton Pritchard, Aaron Nesmith, Tacko Fall, Marcus Smart, Daniel Theis, Tremont Waters, Carsen Edwards and Jeff Teague.
Jayson Tatum and Robert Williams recently tested positive for COVID-19, making Tristan Thompson, Grant Williams, Jaylen Brown, Semi Ojeleye and Javonte Green unavailable due to contact tracing.
It's unclear which Heat player returned a positive test and which players were ruled out due to contact tracing.
The Celtics are scheduled to play the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday while the Heat are scheduled to take on the Philadelphia 76ers. At this time, those games don't appear to be in jeopardy of cancellation, but anything is possible.
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