New York—No new NBA players from among 495 tested since last Thursday have returned positive Covid-19 results, the league announced Wednesday.
Any players returning a confirmed positive result would be isolated until they are cleared to return to team activities under Covid-19 safety guidelines agreed upon by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association.
Last week, the NBA announced two players from among 558 tested had returned positive Covid-19 tests.
The Houston Rockets were forced to postpone their season opener last Wednesday against Oklahoma City when they could not field a minimum eight players against the visiting Thunder.
The Rockets had seven players unable to take the court due to Covid-19 issues, either positive or inconclusive tests plus contact tracing.
Houston did manage to begin the 2020-21 campaign with losses at Portland and Denver. The Rockets are scheduled to finally play their home opener on Thursday against Sacramento.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie will have surgery next week on a partially torn right knee ligament, the NBA club announced Monday.
Dinwiddie suffered the injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in the third quarter of Sunday’s 106-104 loss at Charlotte. He had five points, four rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes on the court.
The Nets plan to update his status following the operation, which has been scheduled for next week, a club statement said.
Dinwiddie has averaged 6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists a game starting alongside Kyrie Irving in the backcourt for the Nets, who are off to a 2-1 start in the week-old campaign.
The Nets figure to turn to their top reserve, swingman Caris LeVert, or guard Landry Shamet to replace Dinwiddie in the starting lineup.
Dinwiddie, 27, has averaged 12.9 points and 5.8 assists a game in six prior NBA seasons, the first two with Detroit before joining the Nets in 2016.
Irving has averaged 29.3 points and Kevin Durant has averaged 26.7 points for Brooklyn, which plays host to 0-2 Memphis on Monday.