Mavericks-Pelicans postponed as COVID-19 wreaks havoc on Dallas roster
DALLAS - Monday night’s Dallas Mavericks game was postponed as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the team’s roster.
The Mavs were set to play the New Orleans Pelicans but the game was called off midday because Dallas did not have at least eight players who could suit up.
There were four Dallas players on the COVID-19 protocol list as of Sunday night, the newest addition then being Maxi Kleber. Starters Josh Richardson and Dorian Finney-Smith and backup Jalen Brunson had already been ruled out; those three stayed behind in Denver after a win over the Nuggets on Thursday and missed Saturday's victory at home against Orlando.
Contact tracing procedures made other players unable to play, thus forcing the game’s postponement.
The Mavericks-Pelicans and Bulls-Celtics games were called off by the league, increasing the total games postponed this season due to virus-related matters to four.
The NBA said Sunday night that the league anticipated there would be issues and has no plans to pause the season because of the current issues some teams are facing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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