Boston Celtics Coach Brad Stevens said no players have tested positive for the coronavirus since Marcus Smart back in March. Stevens said he is tested every other day. Elise Amendola/Associated Press
The Boston Celtics will play their first scrimmage on July 24.
The NBA announced its season restart scrimmage schedule Saturday morning, with games slated to start on July 22. Each team will participate in three inter-squad scrimmages.
While the games are subject to change, they are currently slated to run from July 22 to July 28.
The Celtics will play their first of three scrimmages against the Oklahoma City Thunder at 5 p.m. on July 24.
They will then face the Phoenix Suns July 26 at 1:30 p.m., and the Houston Rockets July 28 at 8 p.m.
Boston resumed official practices July 1 at the Auerbach Center in Brighton to prepare for the season to resume in the NBA’s Disney World bubble. Teams will travel to Orlando between July 7 and July 9.
Health and safety screenings, as well as group workouts during team training camp start July 9.
The NBA suspended its season due to the coronavirus pandemic after Rudy Gobert tested positive on March 11. The Celtics have not had any players test positive for COVID-19 since Marcus Smart was diagnosed shortly after the NBA suspended its season, according to Brad Stevens.
Smart was cleared on March 29.
“Obviously we started as a team testing with the travel party and with anybody that would be in the gym, and the players,” Stevens said last week. “I’ve been tested every other day and knock on wood (no positive tests) so far. Obviously it’s important that we all take care of ourselves and do what we can to obviously go into the bubble healthy, because I think those first couple weeks of practice are gonna be really important to get our legs underneath us.”
The NBA expects to restart the season July 30. At the end of June, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was asked if the league was moving along “full steam ahead.”
“Never full steam ahead, no matter what,” Silver said. “I think one thing we’re learning about this virus is (it is) unpredictable. And I think we and our players together, with their union, the Players Association, look at the data on a daily basis. And if there was something to change that was outside of the scope of what we’re playing for, certainly we would revisit our plans. I’d also say, we’re testing daily. We haven’t put a precise number on it, but if we were to se a large number of cases, and we were to see spread in our community, that would of course be cause to stop as well.”
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