The Toronto Raptors' COVID-19 issues continue to worsen as their game Sunday night against the Chicago Bulls has been postponed due to not having the league-required eight players available to play. The league revealed Toronto is dealing with multiple positive test results, but did not disclose how many.
The postponement of Toronto's contest against the Bulls comes after the team announced last Friday that six coaches, including head coach Nick Nurse, would all be entering quarantine in accordance to the NBA's health and safety protocols. That led to assistant coach Sergio Scariolo taking over for their game against the Houston Rockets, which the Raptors won.
On top of the coaches, Raptors forward Pascal Siakam was also held out of Friday's game, and will continue to be sidelined through the All-Star break due to the league's health and safety protocols. Siakam reportedly returned an inconclusive rapid test just before the game against the Rockets, and a PCR test wasn't available in enough time to make him available to play. The outbreak within the Raptors organization came after one of the six coaches tested positive for the virus, leading to contact tracing and quarantine of the other six coaches and players.
At this point, it's not known exactly how long the Raptors will be without their full complement of coaches and players, or when they will be able to take the court again. Not including the postponed game against the Bulls, the Raptors have two games remaining before the All-Star break -- against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, and the Boston Celtics on Thursday. There's a chance that both of those games will also have to be postponed if the Raptors don't get some players back.
The Raptors currently sit fourth overall in the Eastern Conference with a 17-17 record. For them, the All-Star break is coming just in time as it will provide an ideal opportunity for both players and coaches to rest and get healthy for the stretch run of the season.
