Orlando Magic players were traveling separately to Orlando International Airport Tuesday afternoon when they all had to turn around. It was announced at about 2 p.m. the Orlando’s game at Boston on Wednesday has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues.
It was part of a two-game set to be played in Boston. Friday’s game is still expected to be played as scheduled.
The postponement wasn’t a big surprise given the Celtics’ recent issues with COVID-19. Boston’s game against the Chicago Bulls was postponed Tuesday night as another Celtics player tested positive for the virus. It was the second consecutive postponement for the Celtics, whose practice facility has been temporarily closed due to the outbreak.
The Miami Heat fell under the league minimum of players available Sunday and had to postpone the Boston game. The Celtics would have also been limited Sunday, but once another player tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday, it prompted the postponement of the game against the Bulls.
The Magic have been dodging the COVID-19 bullet lately. Orlando played at Dallas on Sunday, but the Mavs had to postpone their next game Tuesday against New Orleans because of the virus.
Asked Tuesday about his COVID-19 concerns prior to the announcement Wednesday’s Magic-Celtics game would not be played, Orlando coach Steve Clifford said there were obvious concerns.
“I don’t think there’s any question about it. We talked about that this morning. This is a different year, and the longer we go through it — this is only 11 games — there are just different parts of this that pop up,” Clifford said.
The Magic are scheduled to play 10 games in 17 nights to end the month. Beginning Friday, the Magic are slated to play three games in four nights — Friday at Boston, Saturday at Brooklyn and Monday at New York.
