DENVER — Detroit’s game at Denver on Monday night was called off by the NBA because of contact tracing issues for the Pistons left the team without enough players available to take the floor.
It was the first postponement announced by the NBA in a week, and the first game that won’t be played since the Chicago at Memphis game that was scheduled to take place Wednesday.
The league got every game on the schedule between Thursday and Sunday played, the longest run without a postponement in nearly a month.
Denver was one of six teams that had avoided postponements; that list is now down to Brooklyn, New York, Toronto, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The NBA has now postponed 23 games this season, 22 since Jan. 10. Some of those games will be made up before the first-half schedule ends March 4; others may be rescheduled in the second half that starts March 11.
Detroit is scheduled to play Tuesday at Utah. Denver’s next scheduled game is Thursday at the Lakers.
WARRIORS: Golden State rookie James Wiseman will be sidelined more than a week with a sprained left wrist that the 7-foot center injured against Detroit on Saturday.
Wiseman landed on his wrist when he was bumped coming down from a dunk off an alley-oop pass by Draymond Green with 6:21 remaining in the third quarter of the 118-91 rout of the Pistons but kept playing. Wiseman had an MRI exam on Sunday, coach Steve Kerr said.
“It’s a bummer but at least it’s not anything worse and he should be back in 10 days or so,” Coach Steve Kerr said.
The big man, who came off the bench the past four games as Kerr switched up his starting lineup, is wearing a brace and scheduled to be re-evaluated in a week to 10 days. Veteran Kevon Looney replaced Wiseman in the lineup and expects to play more minutes with Wiseman out.
The Warriors selected the 19-year-old Wiseman with the No. 2 overall pick out of Memphis after he played only three college games. He is averaging 12.2 points and leads all rookies with 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
MONDAY’S GAMES
LAKERS 107, HAWKS 99: Anthony Davis scored 25 points and LeBron James dominated down the stretch as Los Angeles closed out a nearly two-week trip with victory in Atlanta.
The Lakers took control with a 16-0 run at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth.
Atlanta rallied, closing to 98-97 on Trae Young’s 3-pointer. But James responded with a 3 of his own from the top of the key, came up with a huge block at the other end on Clint Capela, and finished off the Hawks with a layup off a pass Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
James tacked on four straight free throws to seal the victory. He finished with 21 points after managing only nine through the first three quarters.
CHARLOTTE 129, HEAT 121 (OT): Malik Monk came off the bench to score 36 points and make nine 3-pointers, Devonte’ Graham added 24 points and the Hornets rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final 2:47 of regulation and beat Miami in overtime.
The 36 points was a Hornets’ reserve record, one better than the 35 that Graham had against Indiana on Nov. 5, 2019.
Monk sent the Hornets to OT by making a 3-pointer with 16.6 seconds left, and Charlotte never trailed in the extra period. Cody Zeller had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Gordon Hayward scored 19 and LaMelo Ball finished with 14 points and seven assists for Charlotte in his first start.
ROCKETS 136, THUNDER 106: Eric Gordon scored 25 points and Houston hit an NBA record-tying 11 3-pointers in a 48-point first quarter, cruising to a victory in Oklahoma City.
John Wall scored the first eight points for the Rockets and finished with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Christian Wood also scored 18 and added 11 rebounds in Houston’s sixth straight victory.
Gordon, Wood and Victor Oladipo all had 10 points in the first 12 minutes and the Rockets led by as many as 26 in the first half. It was the second straight game the Rockets had a 48-point quarter.
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