Covid protocol issues lead to cancellation of Houston-OKC game

On just the second day of the new season, the NBA have confirmed that Wednesday night's game between Houston and Oklahoma City will not take place as a preventive measure for possible infections of coronavirus within the Rockets camp.

The game, the first suspended of the new season, "has been postponed in accordance with the league's health and safety protocols," the NBA said in a statement.

The move comes about after Rockets were unable to submit the minimum of eight players available for the game, after three of its members tested positive or inconclusive for coronavirus and four others were pre-emptively quarantined.

The NBA also announced that James Harden, the Rockets star, is also unavailable to play "due to a violation of health and safety protocols" after a video of the player was released recently in a nightclub without wearing a facemask.