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NBA postpones 2 more Wizards games, Grizzlies-Timberwolves matchup amid league-wide COVID-19 spike

For the sixth-straight day, the NBA has called off games due to COVID-19.

The league announced on Friday that the Washington Wizards-Cleveland Cavaliers games scheduled for Sunday and Monday in Washington D.C. had been postponed. The Wizards, who have been dealing with a coronavirus outbreak all week, wouldn’t have the required number of players to compete.

Then just hours later, the league called off Friday night’s game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies. The Timberwolves, the league said in a statement, were also short of the required number of players needed to compete.

Washington already had its games against the Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons postponed earlier this week. Six players, Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said, had tested positive themselves and another three are in health and safety protocols due to contact tracing.

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The Phoenix Suns had multiple games postponed this week, too, following their loss to the Wizards on Monday.

The NBA has now had to postpone 13 games so far this season, all but one of which was done in the past week. The league also introduced new health and safety protocols on Tuesday in an effort to keep the season running safely, which include keeping players and coaches at home or their hotels when not competing, increased mask usage and more.

There were more than 238,000 new cases of the coronavirus in the United States on Thursday, according to The New York Times, and just shy of 4,000 deaths attributed to it. The country recorded more than 4,400 deaths on Tuesday alone, too, an all-time high.

The Wizards — who started out the season 3-8 — are next set to take on the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. It’s unclear when they will make up their postponed games.

Head coach Scott Brooks of the Washington Wizards
The Wizards won't host the Cavs on Sunday and Monday amid their COVID-19 outbreak. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

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