NBA Postpones Bulls' Wednesday Game Against Raptors Amid COVID Outbreak For Toronto
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The NBA has postponed Wednesday night's Bulls game against the Raptors at the United Center, after a COVID outbreak left Toronto without enough players to field a team.
The league said the Raptors do not have the league-minimum eight players available on Wednesday, so the Bulls-Raptors game has been postponed. The Raptors have eight players in the league's COVID protocols.
A makeup date has not been announced.
The Bulls had two games postponed last week due to their own COVID outbreak.
The Bulls had 10 players in protocols before the NBA parked them last week, postponing their games on Dec. 14 and 16. Chicago returned to the court Sunday, the same day the league announced five more postponements.
In an attempt to limit postponements, the league and the National Basketball Players Association have reportedly agreed to new rules about signing replacement players, and the two sides have also agreed to temporarily tighter protocols that call for more testing and stricter mask requirements from Dec. 26 to Jan. 8, per ESPN and The Athletic.
Toronto announced on Dec. 15 that it would play its home games at 50 percent capacity, and this policy took effect on Dec. 18 against the Golden State Warriors. No other NBA team has taken such a measure this season.
Postponed games in 2021-22 season
- Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls (Dec. 22)
- Brooklyn Nets at Portland Trail Blazers (Dec. 23)
- Washington Wizards at Brooklyn Nets (originally scheduled for Dec. 21)
- Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors (Dec. 20)
- New Orleans Pelicans at Philadelphia 76ers (Dec. 19)
- Denver Nuggets at Brooklyn Nets (Dec. 19)
- Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks (Dec. 19)
- Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors (Dec. 16)
- Detroit Pistons at Chicago Bulls (Dec. 14)
Players who are not fully vaccinated must enter health and safety protocols if they are found to be a close contact of a person who has tested positive. As of Dec. 17, players who have not received a booster shot will be subject to tighter restrictions, including game-day testing. If any player tests positive for COVID-19, he must immediately isolate until 10 days have passed from that test or the onset of symptoms, or until he tests negative on two PCR tests 24 hours apart.