The Orlando Magic’s Monday road game against the Toronto Raptors was postponed because of “players and staff members entering the NBA’s Health and Safety protocols,” the league announced Sunday afternoon.
Monday’s game was postponed out of an abundance of caution with the Magic awaiting additional COVID-19 test results, according to a league source. The Magic’s travel party has been tested daily since their first player went into the protocols on Thursday.
The Magic-Raptors matchup was among five games between Sunday and Tuesday postponed by the league due to the COVID-19 protocols, including: Denver Nuggets at Brooklyn Nets on Sunday; Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks on Sunday; New Orleans Pelicans at Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday; Washington Wizards at Nets on Tuesday.
The Magic (6-25) flew from New York to Toronto late Saturday evening after their win over the Nets. They flew to Atlanta early Sunday evening for their Wednesday matchup against the Hawks to close out their three-game road trip.
Due to injuries and the protocols, the Magic had nine available players against the Nets: Mychal Mulder, Gary Harris, Franz Wagner, Chuma Okeke, Robin Lopez, Aleem Ford, Hassani Gravett, B.J. Johnson and Admiral Schofield. The Nets were also short-handed, missing nine players due to the protocols — including Kevin Durant and James Harden — and another two to injuries.
The Magic signed the latter four players on Friday to 10-day contracts via hardship exceptions from their G-League franchise — the Lakeland Magic — ahead of Friday’s loss to the Miami Heat to have the minimum players needed for a game (eight) after having five of their players were placed in the protocols between Thursday and Friday.
They had 10 players available against the Heat before Wendell Carter Jr. exited the game with a right lower leg injury.
The Magic would’ve likely had the same nine players available against the Raptors if Monday’s game was played. Raptors forwards Pascal Siakam and Dalano Banton entered the league’s protocols on Saturday ahead of Toronto’s win over the Golden State Warriors.
Ignas Brazdeikis was placed in protocols late Thursday evening, while Terrence Ross, Mo Bamba, R.J. Hampton and Moe Wagner joined Brazdeikis throughout Friday. Players in the health and safety protocols must be sidelined for at least 10 days or record two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests in a 24-hour period before resuming basketball activities.
The Magic were also without seven players against the Nets due to injuries, putting them at 12 players who were out on Saturday:
— Wendell Carter Jr. (right lower leg muscle strain)
— Cole Anthony (right ankle sprain)
— Jalen Suggs (fractured right thumb)
— Markelle Fultz (torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in January)
— Jonathan Issac (torn ACL in left knee in August 2020)
— Michael Carter-Williams (recovering from August ankle surgery)
— E’Twaun Moore (left knee sprain in an October practice)
— Ross (health and safety protocols)
— Wagner (health and safety protocols)
— Hampton (health and safety protocols)
— Bamba (health and safety protocols)
— Brazdeikis (health and safety protocols).
The Magic’s positive cases and the league’s postponement of games come during what’s believed to be a variant-driven surge of COVID-19 cases in the NBA, as well as the rest of the country.
From last Tuesday through Sunday, there have been double-digit additions to the league’s protocols in five of those six days, according to ESPN. Over 65 players have entered protocols during that six-day period.
