Celtics-Raptors Game 1 officially postponed
The playoffs are expected to resume.
Game 1 of the Celtics-Raptors second-round playoff series has been postponed, the league announced Thursday afternoon.
“NBA playoff games for today will not be played as scheduled,” the league said in a statement. “We are hopeful to resume games either Friday or Saturday.”
In addition to the Celtics and Raptors, the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers, and Dallas Mavericks were are scheduled to compete on Thursday.
The series of postponements comes a day after the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to come out of the locker room for Game 5 of their first-round series against the Orlando Magic, prompting the league to postpone the three playoff games on Wednesday’s schedule.
Prior to the Bucks’ decision not to play, the Celtics and Raptors had been engaged in discussions about potentially sitting out their game in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wis.
“Obviously, if we sit out a game or the rest of the playoffs, we understand how big of an impact that will have,” Celtics wing Jayson Tatum said Wednesday. “Everybody’s going to have to talk about it. We don’t want to just keep playing and forget about what’s going on in the outside world because it’s affecting us. It’s affecting everybody.”
Neither coach Brad Stevens nor Celtics players have been made available since the games were postponed on Wednesday. The team has not issued a statement.
According to the league, there is a video conference call meeting scheduled for Thursday afternoon to discuss next steps. On the call will be NBA players and team governors representing the 13 teams in Orlando; representatives from the National Basketball Players Association; and the league office and NBA Labors Relations committee chairman Michael Jordan.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com