Chicago, IL (AP) – The game between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Thursday night was postponed after a nearly two-hour delay due to condensation on the court.
The officials cited “court conditions” for the delay in starting the contest. There appeared to be moisture on the floor at the United Center, which is also home to the Chicago Blackhawks, who played Wednesday and will skate at the arena again Friday. Workers tried to dry the surface using mops and towels.
The game was officially postponed at 8:53 p.m., prompting boos from the crowd. A rescheduled date for the game was not immediately announced, although the Bulls said tickets from Thursday would be honored.
The Bulls entered at 17-20 and on a three-game losing streak. The contest was supposed to be the second in a four-game trip for the Heat (20-17).
Referee Sean Wright told a pool reporter that players first informed him of the slippery court during warmups. Despite efforts by the United Center staff — including shuffling across the floor with thick towels on their feet — “we just couldn’t guarantee a safe on-court experience,” Wright said.
“At 9:13 on the warm-up clock, some Miami players came and said the court was real slippery and at the same time some Bulls players came over as well,” Wright said. “So, I checked the court conditions and then I immediately got on the horn and notified the (NBA) Replay Center what was going on.”
The decision to delay the start of the game wasn’t announced on the United Center public address system until tipoff.
“We tried to work together to see if we could fix the problem,” Wright said. ”We had ongoing talks and tried some different stuff on the court, and nothing seemed to work.”
Both teams realized the conditions were too risky.
“We always want to try to go,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “The players were complaining about it on both sides. So pretty much indeed we felt that it wasn’t playable.
“We have that in our practice facility and when there’s condensation it takes about 15 minutes for it to change. So we weren’t too optimistic it was going to change.”
Spoelstra added players could feel the slipperiness in pregame warmups.
“By the time I got out there, all the players were complaining,” he said.
Bulls guard Tre Jones told reporters that players kept awaiting a final word.
“They were just telling us, that pretty much, they were gonna’ keep waiting,” Jones said. “It was like 15-minute segments and every 15 minutes would go by and they’re just like trying to continue to work on it to make sure we had a safe playing field, but just couldn’t get it figured out.”
Jones, who was in the starting lineup on his 26th birthday, said he could feel the slipperiness.
“I think as more people got in the gym and everything it just got warmer,” he said. “So I think it continued to get a little bit worse, a little more slippery.”
About 40 minutes after the expected 7:05 p.m. tipoff time, an announcement was made that the expected start time would be after 8 p.m. local time.
Maintenance personnel pushed large mops across court while players from both teams milled about dribbling, shooting and chatting at the start of the delay. At about 7:50 p.m. players and coaches returned to their dressing rooms and the floor was cleared to allow workers to attempt to dry the the surface using mops and towels.
Game officials, then Heat players and coaches, started returning to the floor at 8:25 p.m. Bulls coaches and a handful of Chicago players led by Coby White followed minutes later and filtered about. Bulls head coach Billy Donovan and Miami’s Spoelstra were among those chatting.
The teams then exited the court at 8:45 p.m. without attempting to warm up.
Temperatures in Chicago reached the mid-50s on a rainy Thursday.
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