Basketball: Pacers-Suns game off in new NBA COVID-19 postponement

LOS ANGELES: The NBA postponed this weekend's game in Arizona between the Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns on Thursday (Jan 14) as coronavirus concerns continued to cause disruption for the league.

An NBA statement said Saturday's game at the Phoenix Suns Arena had been postponed in accordance with league health and safety protocols.

The game was called off after contract tracing within the Suns organization left the team with too few players to take the court.

The league has grappled with a slew of postponements this week due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two games on Friday - Washington at Detroit and Golden State at Phoenix - were postponed on Wednesday.

Three other contests set for Wednesday, including Phoenix's game against the Atlanta Hawks, were also called off.

Ten games have now been scratched this season, now in its fourth week.

The league and its players union updated COVID-19 health and safety protocols on Tuesday aimed at keeping players healthy and available to play.

The new measures were imposed "in response to the surge of COVID-19 cases across the country and an uptick among NBA teams requiring potential player quarantines," a league statement said.

On Wednesday the league released it's latest COVID-19 test figures, saying that of 497 players tested since Jan 6, 16 new players had returned confirmed positive tests.

For at least the next two weeks, players and team staffers are required to remain at their residence at all times when the club is at home except to attend team-related activities, exercise outside or perform essential activities, except in extraordinary circumstances.