The Warriors’ game against the Nuggets in Denver has been postponed, as the Nuggets don’t have enough healthy players to field a roster.
Three Nuggets players, in addition to head coach Michael Malone, entered health and safety protocols Thursday morning. Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray and Markus Howard are all dealing with long-term injuries, while Aaron Gordon was also ruled out for Thursday’s game.
Teams need at least eight players available to compete a game.
This is the first Warriors cancellation of the season and 11th league-wide. According to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, at least 237 of the roughly 250 players who have entered health and safety protocols this season were sidelined in December — when the Omicron variant began to drive case numbers in America.
The Warriors and Nuggets played on Tuesday in the Chase Center, when Denver won 89-86. Their rematch in Denver won’t be played as scheduled.
Shortly after the announcement, Warriors forward Draymond Green weighed in on Twitter.
“How do you continue to cancel games when you’ve implemented rules to prevent this from happening?” Green wrote. “Is that not a competitive advantage for other teams? The guys we didn’t have due to protocol list played no role in Tuesday’s loss? Pick a side but don’t straddle the fence.”
