NBA commissioner Adam Silver says the league has no plans to pause its season despite the recent surge in COVID-19 cases across teams.
The league has been forced to postpone a total of five games, including three that were set to be played on Sunday, due to rising COVID-19 cases.
The National Hockey League announced on Monday it would take its Christmas break early amid similar challenges but Silver said the NBA did not have those plans.
"No plans right now to pause the season," Silver told NBA Today. "We have of course looked at all the options, but frankly we are having trouble coming up with what the logic would be behind pausing right now.
"As we look through these cases literally ripping through the country, let alone the rest of the world, I think we're finding ourselves where we sort of knew we were going to get to over the past several months, and that is this virus will not be eradicated, and we're going to have to learn to live with it. I think that's what we're experiencing in the league right now."
Numerous big names in the NBA have been forced into the league's health and safety protocols due to COVID-19 lately including Kevin Durant, James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The NBA had sent a memo to teams on Sunday announcing new rules permitting replacement players who can be added upon losing players to protocols.
However, Silver said the league would not waver just yet on the requirements for protocols, with players who test positive needing to sit out for 10 days or until they get two negative PCR tests taken more than 24 hours apart.
"That's something, again, that it's not just our doctors but the medical community is looking at," he said. "I think they're already realising that you can move away from the 10-day protocol when you have players who are vaccinated and boosted.
"It seems the virus runs through their systems faster. They become not just asymptomatic but, more importantly, they're not shedding the virus anymore. That's the real concern in terms of others. And so we are actively looking at shortening the number of days players are out before they can return to the floor."
On the integrity of clubs experiencing outbreaks being forced to play on and hurriedly sign replacement players, Silver added: "I think there's a recognition that these are the cards that we've been dealt.
"Of course there's an amount of unfairness that comes with playing in certain cases with some teams where particular players are out because of COVID protocols, but the other advantage is we do have an 82-game season and we do have a long playoffs, and my sense is things will work out by the end of the season."
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers labelled Joel Embiid "awesome" after a remarkable 41-point performance in their 108-103 win over the Boston Celtics on Monday.
Embiid finished the game with 41 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and four blocks in a dominant display.
It marked Embiid's third game of at least 40 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocks, which is the second-most since blocks became official in 1973-74, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's four.
Embiid also went past Charles Barkley with his sixth career game of at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
"He was awesome," Rivers said at the post-game news conference. “He took his shots. What we talk about with him every day, make or miss, just get your shot. Get the shot you want. I thought he did that.
"I thought Seth [Curry] did that as well. Our execution down the stretch was absolutely perfect. The spacing, I think we got two threes off their spacing out the post. [It] was perfect. That was pretty good.”
Embiid had good support from both Tobias Harris (25 points, seven rebounds and three assists) and Seth Curry (26 points, four rebounds and seven assists).
However, the Cameroonian center got the 76ers over the line with 17 points in the final quarter, including a clutch late shot in the corner under pressure.
"That's a shot that we work on every single day," Embiid said at the post-game news conference. "So that's a shot that I just didn't pull out of nowhere. We worked on it so many times.
"I saw the double team coming, and at that point, there had been a couple of times where I got doubled and we didn't cut quick enough, and I had no passing lanes and I ended up turning the ball over. So, in that situation, I thought I had a great angle and I had been making shots. I thought it was a great shot."
The win improves the 76ers' record to 16-15 but they are still well off the pace set by the Brooklyn Nets (21-9) in the Eastern Conference.
"I gotta do it every night," Embiid said. "Right now, it's a lot tougher because we got a bunch of guys out and haven't been winning. So that was one that we needed."
Joel Embiid inspired the Philadelphia 76ers to a thrilling 108-103 road win over the Boston Celtics with 41 points including 17 in the fourth quarter on Monday.
Embiid's remarkable final period also included a steal from a last-ditch Celtics inbound with 3.9 seconds on the clock and the 76ers leading 106-103.
The 76ers center made 14 of 27 shots from the field (52 percent) and collected 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and four blocks.
Tobias Harris (25 points, seven rebounds and three assists) and Seth Curry (26 points, four rebounds and seven assists) provided good support for Embiid.
Jayson Tatum had a down game for the Celtics, only managing 17 points, while Jaylen Brown scored 30 points with five rebounds and four assists.
Draymond's season-first triple-double
Stephen Curry scored 30 points including four three-pointers but Draymond Green (16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists) stole the show with his first triple-double of the season as the Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings 113-98. Green also had two blocks and two steals.
Dejounte Murray became the first player in San Antonio Spurs history to reach six triple-doubles in one season, with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists as they won 116-92 over the Los Angeles Clippers. Paul George returned from an elbow injury with 25 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Clippers.
Rudy Gobert dominated with 23 points and 21 rebounds as the Utah Jazz improved to 21-9 with a 112-102 win over the Charlotte Hornets. LaMelo Ball (21 points, 11 assists and six rebounds) and Miles Bridges (21 points and 11 rebounds) were good for the Hornets.
Grizzlies cannot win with Morant
Ja Morant could not lift the Memphis Grizzlies upon his return from injury, managing only 16 points in a 102-99 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had rookie Josh Giddey (19 points and 11 assists) impress. The Grizzlies bizarrely went 10-2 without Morant during his three-week absence, having been 9-10.
Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George will return for Monday's game against the San Antonio Spurs after a fortnight out with an elbow injury.
George has missed the Clippers' past five games due to a right elbow sprain. He last played on December 6 in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
The seven-time NBA All-Star is averaging 25 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists across 24 games this season.
The 16-14 Clippers, who reached the Western Conference semifinals last season, have not been at full strength all season, with Kawhi Leonard still absent with an ACL knee injury, while Serge Ibaka, Jason Preston, Marcus Morris and Isaiah Hartenstein have all had issues too.
"It's frustrating," Clippers head coach Ty Lue said. "We can't get a rhythm of how we want to play when all of our guys are here.
"But everyone is dealing with the same thing, I am pretty sure ... but just having a chance to have our whole team for five, 10 games, just see how it looks going forward. ... But it is frustrating."
Former NBA Rookie of the Year Ja Morant has returned for the Memphis Grizzlies after more than three weeks out with a left knee sprain.
Morant, who was the second pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, was back in the Grizzlies' starting line-up for Monday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The young gun had not played since he hobbled off in their 132-100 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on November 26.
The 22-year-old had been averaging 24.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game until the injury. He was shooting at 47.6 percent from the field.
The Grizzlies had remarkably held a 10-2 record in his absence, improving from 9-10 to 19-12 prior to the Thunder game.
In the early part of this year, Morant had been spoken about as a potential Most Improved Player candidate, despite already scoring 19.1 points per game last year – the 36th-most in the league.
Chicago Bulls' DeMar DeRozan said he felt "as free as a bird" as he returned from isolation with a star turn against the Los Angeles Lakers.
DeRozan had not played in over two weeks after entering the NBA's health and safety protocols amid a COVID-19 outbreak within the Bulls' camp.
He was one of 10 Chicago players to have to quarantine, though did not suffer any symptoms, and he marked his comeback in emphatic style on Sunday.
DeRozan had 38 points, including decisive free throws inside the last 20 seconds, four rebounds and six assists as Chicago claimed a 115-110 win.
He leads the way for the Bulls on points per game (26.8) this season and despite his stint in quarantine, only Zach LaVine (703) has scored more points for Chicago so far in 2021-22 than DeRozan (671).
DeRozan is also averaging 8.2 points per game in the fourth quarter this season, the most in the league.
"I felt free as a bird," DeRozan told reporters, as quoted by ESPN.
"Just getting out there, being with those guys, being in front of the fans. Just getting out the basement I was in for 10 days."
Bulls coach Billy Donovan was hugely impressed.
"When the ball is in his hands, there's just a calmness to him," Donovan said.
"He doesn't get rattled. He's been in so many of these moments throughout his life and his career. I think things slowed down for him.
"He knows exactly what he has to get done, what needs to get done and he finds ways to just stay totally locked in. It's really an incredible gift that he has."
Indeed, Carmelo Anthony, who had 21 points for the Lakers, acknowledged DeRozan was at the top of his game.
"The fact that he utilizes the midrange, a lot of people want to kind of discredit that part of the game, but I think that's a lost art," the Lakers forward said.
"DeMar is one of the guys who's mastered that. And at the end of the game, when you gotta down, and you gotta run something, threes are not falling, you gotta get to that. He mastered that.
"He mastered his spots on the court. I think that's why he's very efficient, especially this season, in the fourth quarter, specifically down the stretch."
The victory moved the Bulls to 18-10 for the season, with Chicago well placed in second in the Eastern Conference behind the Brooklyn Nets.
Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Anthony Davis revealed he feared the worst when he "heard something pop" as the Minnesota Timberwolves' Jaden McDaniels fell into his left knee on Friday.
Davis limped out of Friday's 110-92 defeat to the Timberwolves after sustaining the knee injury which has since been confirmed as an MCL sprain sidelining him for four weeks.
The Lakers power forward collapsed on his way down the tunnel and said he feared the worst at the time.
"I just reached a point where it was tough to walk," Davis told reporters on Sunday. "I had to take a break.
"I did hear something pop - and the first thing I thought of was [a major injury], which I was emotional, I was just like everywhere. But thank God that it wasn't that."
Davis has played 27 games this season, averaging 23.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.0 blocked shots per game.
The eight-time All-Star missed 36 games through injury last season and said he had a positive outlook about his latest setback.
"Mentally I'm fine. I'm in a good space," Davis said. "Last year was a more 'me' thing. This year was like a freakish play. So knowing that nothing I really could have done to avoid it, I guess, keeps me in a good place.
"The locker room keeps me in a good place. People around me outside of basketball keep me in a good place. Great conversation with my wife about it; she's the one who keeps me in a good place, for real."
The Lakers slipped to a 16-15 record with Sunday's 115-110 defeat to the Chicago Bulls without Davis.
"We're still in a good spot, for a team who feel like they can, could have done more, or win more games, games we should have won, and we're still in a good spot," he said.
"So hopefully we can stay afloat with all the stuff going on around the team and being able to still pursue our goal, which is to win a championship."
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