The NBA has confirmed that Wednesday’s game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers scheduled to occur at Portland’s Moda Center has been postponed because COVID-19 tracing has left the Grizzlies without the required league minimum of eight healthy and available players able to participate.
As noted by ESPN, this is now the 16th NBA game postponed because of coronavirus-related setbacks since the season began on Dec. 22. The Grizzlies previously had a contest versus the Minnesota Timberwolves set for Jan. 15 called off after Minnesota star Karl-Anthony Towns tested positive for COVID-19.
Memphis improved to 7-6 on the campaign with a 108-104 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday. That same day, Portland fell to 8-6 via a 125-104 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Portland likely won’t mind seeing any games rescheduled at this time. Guard CJ McCollum is currently sidelined for at least a month due to a hairline fracture in his left foot, and center Jusuf Nurkic is expected to miss a minimum of six weeks after he underwent surgery on his fractured right wrist.
Portland is scheduled to host Memphis again on Friday night, but it’s too early to determine if the Grizzlies will be able to dress a squad by then.
