In an immediate jolt to the N.B.A.’s attempt to stage a season outside a restricted-access bubble, league officials were forced to postpone the Houston Rockets’ season opener on Wednesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder when the Rockets were unable to field the required minimum of eight players in uniform.
On just the second night of the 2020-21 season, an announcement that the game would be postponed “in accordance with the league’s health and safety protocols” came less than three hours before the game’s scheduled tipoff. Three Rockets players, according to the league, had coronavirus tests that were either positive or inconclusive, leading to four other Rockets players’ being placed in quarantine after contact tracing.