The massive winter storm Fern wreaked havoc around the country, and causes several NBA schedule changes.
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The massive winter storm Fern wreaked havoc around the country, and causes several NBA schedule changes.
As much of the midsection of the nation has been pummeled by cold and snow from Saturday and now into Sunday thanks to Winter Storm Fern, with effects felt from as far away as Arizona and New Mexico all the way through the Midwest and into New England, the NBA and NCAA has had to make adjustments to the schedule.
Already, the NBA has announced two changes to Sunday’s schedule, with the Grizzlies’ home game in Memphis against the Nuggets having to be pushed back because of the storm. The game was supposed to be played at 3:30 p.m., ET but has been forced to be rescheduled.
With local authorities urging locals not to drive on the roads unless absolutely necessary, there was little choice for the league. In a statement, the Grizzlies wrote, “The NBA game scheduled for today between the Memphis Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets at FedExForum has been postponed due to extreme weather conditions in the Memphis area. The date for the rescheduled game will be announced by the NBA at a later time. All tickets for the game originally scheduled for today will be valid for the rescheduled date, and further information will be available on Grizzlies.com after the rescheduled date is announced.”
Winter Storm Fern Leaves Mavericks Stranded
Also heading into postponement because of Winter Storm Fern is the Bucks‘ game in Milwaukee against the Dallas Mavericks, which was able to play its Saturday night game despite very icy road conditions in North Texas. For the Bucks, the problem was a distinct lack of an opponent–the Mavs were unable to leave Dallas because of the weather.
The team was hoping to leave as late as six hours before game time, but with no improvement coming, the game had to be called.
The Bucks wrote in a statement: “The Milwaukee Bucks-Dallas Mavericks game that was scheduled for tonight at Fiserv Forum has been postponed due to the Mavericks inability to leave Dallas as a result of inclement weather in the area.
“The date for the rescheduled game will be announced at a later time. Tickets purchased for tonight’s game will be valid for the rescheduled date.”
Mavericks writer Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News speculated that the make-up date could be as soon as Monday, or could wait until after the All-Star break, on February 19.
NHL, NFL Likely Unaffected by Weather
There has been more sports fallout from Fern. Several games across NCAA basketball had either their time or date moved this weekend, as Sunday games were bumped back to Saturday. On Monday, two NBA games have been rescheduled: the Pacers vs. Hawks in Atlanta was moved to 1:30 p.m. ET, while the Philadelphia at Charlotte game was moved to 3 p.m. ET.
Both the two NFL conference championship games–played too far West to be affected by Winter Storm Fern, in Denver and Seattle–are proceeding as scheduled. The NHL slate of six games has not been affected. Four games are in Canada, one in Chicago and one in Seattle.