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The game between the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder has been postponed, according to Shams Charania of the Athletic.
Houston Rockets-Oklahoma City Thunder game tonight has been postponed.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 23, 2020
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that it was due to a lack of personnel.
The Rockets don't have the required eight available players, league says.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 23, 2020
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports announced that James Harden is unavailable for tonight’s game due to an apparent violation of protocols.
Also with the postponement of the OKC-Houston game, the NBA ruled that James Harden was unavailable due to a violation of the Health and Safety Protocols.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 23, 2020
The Houston Rockets could be without several key players in their season opening matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are among several players that are expected to miss tonight’s game due to coronavirus contact tracing.
Several Houston Rockets, including John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and possibly more, are expected to miss tonight's season opener vs. OKC due to coronavirus contact tracing, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 23, 2020
Both Wall and Cousins, who played at Kentucky together, joined the Rockets in the 2020 NBA offseason. Last season, the Rockets finished with a 44-28 record—earning them the No. 4 seed in the NBA Playoffs.
Tonight’s game between the Rockets and Thunder is scheduled to unfold in Houston at 5:00 pm PST.
Updates:
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Adrian Wojnarowski, Cousins has tested negative for coronavirus. Wojnarowksi also revealed that the Rockets’ current situation could be tied to a group of players getting haircuts at the same apartment.
There was a group of Houston players -- including Martin, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins -- away from the facility at an apartment getting haircuts, sources said. That's led to the contact tracing on Wall and Cousins as team awaits more testing results on Martin, sources said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 23, 2020
According to the reports from ESPN’s contributors, KJ Martin, Ben McLemore and Jae’Sean Tate are among the players that are self isolating.