NBA postpones Sunday's virus-hit Sixers at Thunder game


Chris Silva of the Miami Heat and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers fight for the rebound on January 14, 2021 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images/AFP

Sunday's scheduled NBA game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed by the league hours before tip-off due to COVID-19 safety protocol issues.

The visiting Sixers did not have the minimum eight players available for the game due to ongoing COVID-19 contract tracing within the club.

Cameroonian star center Joel Embiid of the 76ers had been ruled out for the contest due to a sore right knee that sidelined him from Philadelphia's 106-104 loss at Memphis.

The Sixers rank fourth in the Eastern Conference at 9-5 while the Thunder are among four 6-6 clubs sharing eighth in the Western Conference.

The 76ers-Thunder game was the second of the day to be postponed after a Cleveland at Washington contest had been delayed due to six COVID-19 positives on the Wizards' roster.

It marks the seventh day in the past eight in which the NBA has had at least one game postponed due to Covid-19 safety protocols in a season that began four weeks ago and features teams playing in home arenas.