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Wednesday Night’s Trail Blazers Game Is Postponed Due to the NBA’s COVID-19 Protocols

The concern is with their opponents, the Memphis Grizzlies, who will not have the eight minimum players required in order to play.

Gary Trent, Jr. prepares for a Trail Blazers game against the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 16, 2021. (Bruce Ely / Trail Blazers)

By Matthew Singer

Update, Jan. 21, 8:49 am: The NBA has also postponed the Blazers-Grizzlies game scheduled for Friday at Moda Center.  

Tonight's basketball game between the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies has been postponed due to COVID-19 contact tracing, the NBA has announced.

The game was scheduled to tip off at Moda Center tonight at 7 pm.

According to a press release, the concern is with the Grizzlies, who will not have the eight minimum players required in order to play.

While it's the first time the Blazers have had a game called off this season due to the NBA's health and safety protocols, 16 games across the league have been postponed since the season started Dec. 23. The league has not yet clarified when those games will be made up.

Depending on how you look at it, this could be considered a minor boon for the Blazers, who recently lost two key players to injury: Jusuf Nurkic is out for at least six weeks following surgery for a fractured wrist, while CJ McCollum—who was in the midst of a career year—has a fracture in his foot that will keep him on the sidelines for a minimum of one month.