Miami Heat Could Get a Break With Boston Celtics' Positive COVID-19 Tests

Things could be somewhat easier for the Miami Heat when they play Sunday at the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics will be without three players _ Tristan Thompson and Robert and Grant Williams _ after they tested positive for COVID-19. All will have to quarantine for at least seven days before rejoining the team.

Thompson, a center, is averaging 8.4 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds while Robert Williams is at 6.8 points and 6.5 rebounds a game as the backup. Grant Williams, another key reserve forward, is averaging 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19 minutes.

Boston, which is already shorthanded, could have just 11 players available. Guards Kemba Walker and Romeo Langford remain out with injuries while Jeff Teague (ankle) is questionable for Friday's game against the Washington Wizards. The NBA requires at least eight players available to avoid cancellation of a game.

The Heat, who are 3-4 on the season, lost to the Celtics 107-105 Wednesday in Miami on a last-second putback basket by Payton Pritchard. Last year the Heat bested the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals in six games.

Before playing Boston, Miami faces the Wizards on the road before completing the back-to-back the following night. That game will mark the Heat's first in Washington since the protests by pro-Donald Trump supporters at the Capitol that led to five deaths, prompting center Bam Adebayo to say he won't leave his hotel for safety reasons.

“Imagine if a mob of Black people wanted to go in the White House,” Adebayo said. “Imagine what’d happen. It’d be tear gas. It’d be rubber bullets. It’d be the whole nine yards.”

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