The Houston Rockets are preparing to have only nine available players, James Harden among them, for their first two games of the season because of ongoing quarantine issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Rockets play their opener in Portland on Saturday and visit Denver on Monday. They will be without John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Gordon and Mason Jones for those games, all listed as out by the Rockets with “health and safety protocols” as the reason.
Those four players, if they return negative tests, will see seven-day quarantines end Wednesday. That means they would be cleared to return when Houston plays at home against Sacramento this coming Thursday.
Harden, the three-time defending NBA scoring champion who has been prominently mentioned in trade talks in recent weeks, is not on the team’s injury report. The NBA said earlier in the week that Harden would serve a four-day quarantine, which ended Friday, for violating the league’s virus protocols. He was also fined $50,000 for attending an event that the league said broke the rule prohibiting players from “attending indoor social gatherings of 15 or more people or entering bars, lounges, clubs or similar establishments.”
That rule is part of the long list of protocols put into place for this season. Harden being ineligible to play meant the Rockets did not have the eight available players needed to start a game, so what was to have been their opener on Wednesday against Oklahoma City was postponed.
Ben McLemore and Kenyon Martin Jr. are not with the Rockets on the trip and are self-isolating, the team said. Chris Clemons has also been lost for the season because of an Achilles injury suffered in the preseason.
The league announced Thursday that of the 558 players tested for COVID-19 in the week starting Dec. 16, there were two new confirmed player positive tests. The league has not revealed the names of any of the players who have returned the 59 positive tests since the week before training camps started; 48 of those positive tests came back in the week prior to camps opening.
Houston has 16 players on its current roster. Between the four players in quarantine, two self-isolating and one hurt, that leaves nine eligible to play at this time – one more than the NBA minimum.
CAVALIERS: Kevin Love will be back in Cleveland’s starting lineup Saturday night against the Pistons after missing the season opener with a calf injury.
Love had been sidelined since the team’s first exhibition game against Indiana on Dec. 12, when he got kicked in the calf. Love said his leg was swollen from his knee to his Achilles tendon. He wanted to play in Wednesday’s game against Charlotte, but the team decided that two more days of rest would be beneficial.
The 32-year-old, five-time All-Star forward said he “feels great” but knows he may struggle with his conditioning early on.
CLIPPERS: Kawhi Leonard had 21 points before taking an elbow to the face in the fourth quarter, Paul George scored 23 points and had nine assists, and Los Angeles beat the Nuggets 121-108 on Friday night.
According to reports, Leonard needed eight stitches to treat a laceration in his mouth.
The Clippers led by 11 with 6:11 left when Serge Ibaka went up for a rebound and caught the side of his teammate’s face with his right elbow. Leonard lay bleeding on the court before walking to the locker room.
“He got up and walked off the floor, so he’s going to be good,” Clippers Coach Tyronn Lue said.
Leonard was ruled out shortly thereafter and was being evaluated postgame, but it did put a scare into George.
SATURDAY GAME
HAWKS 122, GRIZZLIES 112: Trae Young scored eight straight points down the stretch and finished with 36 points as Atlanta beat Memphis.
Kevin Huerter added 21 points for the Hawks, who won their second straight. De’Andre Hunter finished with 15 points and rookie Nathan Knight added 14 points, going 4 of 5 from the field and 2-for-3 shooting from 3-point range.
Ja Morant led Memphis with 28 points and seven assists, and Kyle Anderson finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Dillon Brooks added 19 points before fouling out in the closing seconds.
The game was a showdown between two of the league’s top young point guards in Young and Morant, both of whom had big season-openers. Young had 37 points in the Hawks’ 124-104 win at Chicago, while Morant scored a career-high 44 in a home loss to San Antonio.
Young scored 10 points in the final 2:40 against the Grizzlies, starting with the eight straight to keep Memphis from overtaking Atlanta.
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