The Chicago Bulls will now have to wait four days until their next game, as their originally scheduled Jan. 12 matchup with the Boston Celtics is pushed.
Bad news for first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls emerged, thanks to a post on the Twitter timeline of Shams Charania of The Athletic on the late morning of Jan. 11, for their next game on the regular season slate. The Bulls were set to take on the Boston Celtics next, which was supposed to come at home at the United Center on the night of Jan. 12.
The Celtics reportedly won’t have the minimum number of players necessary to face the Bulls on Jan. 12. This comes after the Celtics were supposed to face the defending Eastern Conference champs Miami Heat on Jan. 10, and that game was delayed due to COVID-19 related issues.
COVID-19 related issues struck again in a game for the Celtics this week. And they weren’t the only team to have a game postponed on either Jan. 11 or 12. The Dallas Mavericks-New Orleans Pelicans showdown, originally scheduled for the night of Jan. 11 was also delayed due to COVID-19 related issues.
Two NBA games have been postponed: Dallas Mavericks-New Orleans Pelicans tonight and Boston Celtics-Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 11, 2021
It was ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski (on his Twitter timeline also on the late morning of Jan. 11) that reported that it was the Celtics that didn’t have enough players to meet the NBA’s mandated minimum to play in a game this season that caused this delay for the Bulls side.
NBA has postponed Celtics-Bulls on Tuesday too, league says. Source says Boston remains short the necessary players.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 11, 2021
This is the first game so far this season that the Bulls had pushed back due to COVID-19 related issues for either team. And it might not be the last. The NBA had executives/administration meet on Jan. 11 to discuss future plans surrounding the league’s health and safety protocols on COVID-19.
The last game that the Bulls did play in came on the night of Jan. 10 on the road, which resulted in a tough three-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. That was a rough way for the Bulls to cap a four-game west coast road trip, on a three-game losing streak.
Now next up for Donovan and the Bulls will be a matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road on Jan. 15. The Bulls will come into that game with a record of 4-7, and it will tip off another short road trip against the Western Conference for the rest of the week.