The scheduled game between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls was postponed on Thursday due to condensation on the court in Chicago.
The United Center hosted a Chicago Blackhawks game on ice on Wednesday, and after an unseasonably warm, rainy day in Chicago, the basketball court wasn’t in playable condition.
Players from both teams went through their standard pregame warmup routines, but didn’t consider the court safe for a game.
Following more than 90 minutes of futile attempts to fix the issue — including turning up the arena’s air conditioning and sweeping the court with mops and large towels — the NBA league office, game officials and both teams’ coaches decided on the postponement.
United Center employees clean the court during a delay before Thursday’s scheduled game between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls. The game was later postponed. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
“The players were complaining about it on both sides,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We all went out there and pretty much immediately, we felt that it wasn’t playable.”
A makeup date was not immediately announced on Thursday night. The Heat aren’t currently scheduled to return to Chicago this season.
During the 2016-17 season, games in Minnesota and Philadelphia were postponed due to condensation under similar circumstances: a warm day in a cold-weather city, following an event on ice in the arena.
