Sunday's games between Atlanta and Cleveland , Brooklyn vs Denver and New Orleans at Philadelphia have all been called off; similarly, Orlando Magic's game at Toronto on Monday and Washington's game at Brooklyn on Tuesday have also been postponed
Sunday 19 December 2021 19:58, UK
The NBA has been forced to postpone a total of five games involving nine teams due to rising coronavirus cases.
Sunday's games between Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets vs Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans at Philadelphia 76ers have all been called off.
Similarly, Orlando Magic's game at Toronto Raptors on Monday and Washington Wizard's game at Brooklyn on Tuesday have also been postponed.
The postponements come on the same day Atlanta's star guard Trae Young and Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel entered the league's health and safety protocols due to Covid.
David Fizdale will take Vogel's place on the bench for Sunday's game at the Chicago Bulls, who themselves are returning to the court after having two games postponed last week.
Brooklyn have 10 players plus some staff ruled out including Kevin Durant and James Harden - although they will be boosted by the imminent return of Kyrie Irving.
Irving has sat out all season for not complying with New York City's vaccine mandate, although the team reversed the decision last week to allow the 29-year-old back for games and practices in which he is eligible to participate - meaning road games except for those in San Francisco, which also mandates vaccines.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have five more players testing positive after Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley were ruled out with the virus earlier in the week.
In total, more than 50 players have been placed on the NBA's protocols list in recent days with teams simply not having enough players to compete.
Such is the current situation, the league and National Basketball Players Association have been in discussions over a plan where teams would be able to sign reinforcements to 10-day contracts without those deals impacting salary cap and luxury tax figures.
Although that deal has not yet been finalised, talks are continuing.
