NBA postpones Monday's virus-hit Sixers at Thunder game

NEW YORK – Sunday's (Monday, Manila time) scheduled NBA game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed by the league hours before tip-off due to COVID-19 safety protocol issues.

The visiting Sixers did not have the minimum eight players available for the game due to ongoing Covid-19 contract tracing within the club.

Cameroonian star center Joel Embiid of the 76ers had been ruled out for the contest due to a sore right knee that sidelined him from Philadelphia's 106-104 loss at Memphis.

The Sixers rank fourth in the Eastern Conference at 9-5 while the Thunder are among four 6-6 clubs sharing eighth in the Western Conference.

The 76ers-Thunder game was the second of the day to be postponed after a Cleveland at Washington contest had been delayed due to six COVID-19 positives on the Wizards' roster.

It marks the seventh day in the past eight in which the NBA has had at least one game postponed due to COVID-19 safety protocols in a season that began four weeks ago and features teams playing in home arenas.