Maintenance staff wipes the floors during a delay in a game between the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat at the United Center on January 8, 2026 in Chicago. Geoff Stellfox Getty Images
The Miami Heat’s game against the Chicago Bulls at United Center on Thursday night was postponed “due to moisture on the floor rendering the court unplayable.”
The combination of 50-degree temperatures and rain outside the United Center, and the ice below the basketball court led to condensation on the playing surface.
With the Heat-Bulls game originally scheduled to begin at around 8:10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, the game was delayed due to the slippery conditions on the court for more than 90 minutes before the game was postponed. A makeup date was not immediately announced.
“The National Basketball Association game scheduled for tonight between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls at United Center has been postponed due to moisture on the floor rendering the court unplayable,” the NBA announced around 9:53 p.m. EST. “The date for the rescheduled game will be announced at a later time.
With the Bulls sharing the United Center with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, the humidity that filled the arena once fans entered the building paired with the ice under the basketball court led to moisture on the playing surface. United Center officials tried to lower the temperature in the arena to combat the condensation, but it didn’t work.
“We always want to try to go,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday night after the game was postponed. “The players were complaining about it on both sides. So staff, we all went out there and pretty much immediately we felt that it wasn’t playable. We have that in our practice facility, and when there’s condensation it takes about 15 minutes for it to change. But this is a huge building. We weren’t optimistic that it would change. “
A view of a post made by the Chicago Bulls organization on the Jumbotron to notify fans that the game against the Miami Heat has been postponed at the United Center due to court conditions on January 8, 2026 in Chicago. Geoff Stellfox Getty Images
Heat and Bulls players first noticed the moisture on the court during pregame warmups.
“By the time I got out there, all the players were complaining,” Spoelstra said.
In a pool report following the game, Crew Chief Sean Wright explained when the slippery court conditions were first noticed.
“At 9:13 on the warm-up clock, some Miami players came and said the court was real slippery and at the same time some Bulls players came over as well,” Wright said. “So, I checked the court conditions and then I immediately got on the horn and notified the Replay Center what was going on.”
Coaches and players from both teams waited around the court for nearly an hours as officials discussed the plan forward and workers tried to dry the court with towels and brooms. But at around 8:50 EST, both the Heat and Bulls retreated to their locker rooms as the court continued to be worked on.
“Officials were on the horn the whole time,” Spoelstra added. “We were on the horn with [Heat general manager] Andy Elisburg back in Miami. It was just a waiting game until finally both sides decided that we needed to call it.”
Wright said: “We tried to work together to see if we could fix the problem. We had ongoing talks and tried some different stuff on the court, and nothing seemed to work.”
Both teams eventually returned to the court just minutes before the game was officially postponed.
“Honestly, this is the first time I’ve ever had to deal with that in 11 seasons, which is kind of crazy,” Heat guard Norman Powell said. “Yeah, it’s kind of tough. After the first like 30 minutes, I think you start to kind of like, all right, what are we doing. Then you hear them say another 20 minutes and then it’s like, all right, like, you really don’t want to play and it’s hard to get refocused.
“You see the guys messing around and joking around. So it’s kind of hard to stay locked in when you’re just waiting for news and how it’s going to go. But yeah, it’s pretty crazy.”
Before Thursday’s game was postponed, the Heat released its starting lineup for the contest with one notable change from previous games. The Heat was set to begin Thursday’s game with a starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo.
Herro replaced second-year center Kel’el Ware, who started the previous 11 games, in the Heat’s starting lineup. Herro was re-inserted into the starting group in what was supposed to be his second game back from a toe injury after playing as a reserve in his return in Tuesday’s 122-94 road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Thursday’s matchup against the Bulls was supposed to be the second game of the Heat’s four-game trip after Tuesday’s loss to the Timberwolves at Target Center. Instead, the second game of the Heat’s current trip will come Saturday against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun).
“There was no question that it was not playable,” Spoelstra said of the United Center court. “That’s what was disappointing. As soon as you walked out there, you knew you couldn’t play on it.”
Thursday’s game at United Center was also supposed to be the Heat’s second and final game in Chicago this regular season.
“Player safety is always the most important despite the efforts by the United Center to rectify the situation,” Wright said. “We were unsuccessful in doing so, and we decided that player safety was the most import and we just couldn’t guarantee a safe on-court experience.”