Grizzlies-Blazers called off as NBA stresses new protocols

Contact tracing for the Memphis Grizzlies meant they would not have enough players eligible to play in Portland on Wednesday night, leading to the NBA’s 16th postponement for coronavirus-related reasons this season.

Also Wednesday: The NBA said 11 new players in the past week tested positive for the coronavirus, down from 16 the previous week but higher than the norm since training camps opened in early December.

Of the 16 postponements, 15 are since Jan. 10 and the number could rise soon; Memphis plays in Portland again Friday.

By NBA rule, teams must have eight eligible players for games; the Grizzlies would not meet that threshold because of “ongoing contact tracing,” the league said.

The decision came on the same day that the league, in a memo sent to teams and obtained by the Associated Press, reiterated some new, stiffer pandemic protocols.

Players, the NBA reminded them, must limit interactions to elbow bumps and fist bumps. Hugs and handshakes are not permitted, and players talking after games are “strongly encouraged to wear face masks.”

Cavaliers defeat Nets

in double overtime

Kyrie Irving returned from his personal “pause” and scored 37 points in his first game with Kevin Durant and James Harden, but visiting Brooklyn’s “Big 3” couldn’t keep up with Cleveland’s Collin Sexton, who scored 42 and led the Cavaliers to a 147-135 double-overtime win on Wednesday night.

Sexton made four 3-pointers — most of them over Irving — and scored 15 points in the second OT. He dropped two 3s and fed Taurean Prince for another in a 55-second span as Cleveland put it away.

“He played out of his mind,” said Cavs forward Cedi Osman, who...