The NBA announced on Monday that the New Orleans Pelicans’ game against the San Antonio Spurs was postponed. The league did not announce the decision until after 7:00 PM Eastern, less than two hours before scheduled-tip off.
The league’s press release on the postponement:
The National Basketball Association game scheduled for tonight between the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center has been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols
Because of ongoing contract tracing with both the Spurs and Pelicans, neither team has the league-required eight available players to proceed with the scheduled game.
The Pelicans have not had any form of a COVID-19 issue this season within the team. New Orleans last played on Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, ending a two-week road trip.
Earlier this season, the Pelicans-Mavericks game was also postponed due to COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols for Dallas. The extent of the origin of the contact tracing for the Pelicans is not yet known, nor if any player within the team has contracted the virus.