Two records and a surreal postponement as Bulls-Heat game moved

One of those light NBA nights – just four games on the schedule – ended up feeling even thinner after a situation rarely seen in the league.

Why was Bulls-Heat game postponed?

The Chicago Bulls–Miami Heat game scheduled for Wednesday was suspended before tipoff because of condensation problems on the United Center floor. Chicago’s arena, the largest in the NBA, was hit by a chain of events that made playing basketball impossible.

The night before, the venue had hosted an NHL game featuring the Chicago Blackhawks. On Wednesday, weather conditions in Illinois’ largest city added to the problem. Temperatures climbed to nearly 50°F, unusually warm for this time of year, but humidity was extremely high and rain fell steadily throughout the day. The same factors were present in the NBA’s last two game suspensions due to condensation, both during the 2016–17 season in Minnesota and Philadelphia – northern US cities where heavy humidity and rain followed hockey games in the same arena.

“Players from both teams were complaining. When we came out onto the court, almost immediately everyone realized we couldn’t play,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. Pregame warmups were completed, and for more than 90 minutes arena staff tried every possible method to dry the floor, from oversized towels to cranking up the building’s air conditioning. Nothing worked. In the end, referees and coaches from both teams agreed that postponement was the only option. No makeup date has yet been announced. Miami had not been scheduled to return to Chicago for the rest of the season, but now will have to.

Carlisle and Edwards reach milestones

Among the games that did go ahead, the night belonged to two figures who reached significant milestones. Rick Carlisle finally earned his 1,000th regular-season win as head coach of the Indiana Pacers, becoming the 11th coach in NBA history to do so. The milestone came with a 114–112 road win over the Charlotte Hornets, a victory that had proven stubbornly elusive.

Indiana had lost 13 straight games, leaving Carlisle waiting since December 9 to reach the mark. This has been one of the most difficult seasons of his 37-year NBA career. Six months after losing Game 7 of the NBA Finals, he now finds his team at the bottom of the league with a 7–31 record. Much of that downturn is linked to the Achilles tendon injury suffered by star guard Tyrese Haliburton just minutes into the title-deciding game against Oklahoma City last June.

The other standout of the night was Anthony Edwards. In Minnesota’s 131–122 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Timberwolves guard became the third-youngest player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career points.Edwards did it at 24 years and 156 days old, trailing only LeBron James (23 years, 59 days) and Kevin Durant (24 years, 33 days). The only other players to reach the mark before turning 25 were Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony and Luka Dončić.

The No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft scored 25 points, as four Timberwolves topped 20 on the night: Julius Randle had 28, Jaden McDaniels 26 and Donte DiVincenzo 22. The win lifted Minnesota to fourth in the Western Conference, just one and a half games behind second-place San Antonio.

In the final game of the night, the Utah Jazz edged the Dallas Mavericks 116–114 behind 33 points from Lauri Markkanen, despite a near triple-double from Cooper Flagg, who finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.