Time on their hands: Coronavirus contact tracing forces postponement of two Hornets' games, creates uncertainty
Charlotte may end up going nearly a week in between games after four San Antonio players test positive
Looks like it’s the Hornets’ turn now.
Due to four players on San Antonio’s roster returning positive COVID-19 tests, the NBA announced on Tuesday that it was postponing Charlotte’s next two games in accordance with the league’s health and safety protocols. So Wednesday’s game against Chicago and Friday’s game versus Denver have been pushed back to be played at a later date, which would leave the Hornets with a six-day span in between games.
Their next matchup is scheduled to be against native Charlotte son Steph Curry and Golden State on Saturday, the finale of what was supposed to be a five-game home stand at Spectrum Center. The lengthy gap from Sunday’s 122-110 loss to the Spurs until then is due to additional contact tracing for players on both teams and to ensure the health and safety on each side. The good news, according to coach James Borrego, is the early indications are none of the Hornets have COVID-19.
Still, this latest curveball will force them to alter things for a few days at minimum.
“We’ve been here before,” Borrego said Tuesday. “We’ve had this type of year going back to last February. So we’ve been in this situation. We’ve just got to adjust, and adapt, and find ways to communicate and connect away from each other right now.
“I just want this to be a rest for our minds, a rest for our bodies and use it as time to grow and to get better. And to find some rest as well. It’s obviously been very disruptive. But we’ll be OK. We’ll fight our way through it.”
Because of the ongoing contact tracing, the Hornets didn’t conduct a team-wide practice Tuesday, instead only participating in individual workouts at most. No one else could do any on-court activities while that individual practice was being conducted. The locker room was also off limits.
It was a flashback to how things were prior to the start of training camp in December, when they were allowed to have just one player and one coach — each wearing a mask and also socially distanced — utilizing one basket at a time. Essentially, all these things are in place to help control any potential spread.
If there’s a silver lining — albeit microscopic — it’s this: these extra few days should provide the Hornets with some much-needed recovery time for two starters. Injuries have slowly taken their toll over the last few weeks, ramping up seemingly considerably.
Devonte’ Graham left Sunday’s game with left knee discomfort after landing awkwardly at the end of the first half. He briefly logged 48 seconds in the third quarter before exiting for the rest of the game. He was playing in just his second game back following a three-game absence nursing a strained left groin.
All this after Terry Rozier missed those two games with a sprained right ankle.
So about the only positive is the added recovery time for Hayward and Graham. Particularly considering the grueling upcoming schedule that features a six-game road trip out West to conclude the first half of the Hornets’ schedule.
“They are getting treatment and we didn’t have them on the court yesterday and today,” Borrego said. “So we’re just making sure their bodies are right. Obviously we don’t play for a couple of days, so I’m not going to speculate on if they’re a go the next time we play or not because I just don’t when we’re going to play next. They're getting treatment. They’re getting better. So it’s good for their bodies right now.”
Zoom meetings and individual time will rule the week for the Hornets. The plan is to hold small group sessions virtually through at least Thursday to go over strategy and film work. They also will do their best to get players enough gym time to stay in shape and hone those shots in order to prevent any sort of rust building up given the unexpected hiatus.
Should all go well, they could be back as a unit collectively as early as Friday. Ultimately, though, the decision on when to resume doesn’t rest with them. The NBA is in charge and all the Hornets can do is listen to instructions while also keeping it all in perspective.
“It’s really just a wait-and-see process,” Borrego said. “They’re leading it. They’re guiding it. Obviously we trust them. They have the experts and they are looking at all the data and information and they have more information than any of us have, so we trust then. That’s the biggest thing. And we’ll let them guide the process. There’s a lot of uncertainty and I think with that you’ve just got to communicate. (GM) Mitch (Kupchak), myself, (team trainer) Joe (Sharpe), (assistant GM) Buzz (Peterson) — we have a number of calls making sure we are all on the same page. We filter that information to our players.
“Really we’ve been set up for this the last year. It’s not nothing that they haven’t done over the last year. It’s just in-season now. So look, we have a process in place. We have the communication there. Our guys understand where we are at and that’s all we’ll do, is just keep them informed as we go. So a lot of uncertainty, but we’ll get through it. It’s a great challenge for us, for our young group. But we are going to be OK. There’s a lot going on. When you look at the big picture, all this, this is just a minor blip of what’s going in in our world. We can handle this. We’re out a few games and there’s a world dealing with so much more.”