A game between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs has been canceled, the NBA confirmed. This comes after the Heat were unable to meet the league’s requirement of fielding a minimum of eight players.
While the Heat managed to field exactly eight players during their win against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night, their list of unavailable players grew as more players either tested positive for COVID-19 or incurred physical injuries.
Following Tuesday night’s game, Gabe Vincent tested positive for coronavirus and is thus no longer available. Jimmy Butler, who sprained his right ankle during the closing minutes of the Wizards game, remains unavailable through injury while KZ Okpala sustained an injury on Tuesday as well.
In an effort to make up the numbers for the game against the Spurs, Miami attempted to recruit players from the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, due to their close proximity to the arena that would host the game.
Miami is not alone in its struggle to maintain a fully active squad amidst the spread of COVID-19. Currently, 119 players in the NBA find themselves in isolation after testing positive, while referees have needed to resort to following COVID-19 protocols as well.
