Raptors’ playoff series opener against Celtics postponed

The NBA has confirmed the Toronto Raptors’ playoff game against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night has been postponed in the aftermath of a weekend police shooting in Wisconsin.

In a statement, the NBA said they hope to resume the playoffs on Friday or Saturday.

The NBA’s board of governors met separately Thursday to decide next steps.

One potential remedy for the schedule, the person said, was to play the three games that were postponed Wednesday on Friday, and the three games scheduled for Thursday on Saturday, though that had not been decided.

Starting with the Milwaukee Bucks, who refused to take the court for their game Wednesday against the Orlando Magic, players from six teams made the extraordinary decisions to protest the shooting by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday of Jacob Blake, a Black man, apparently in the back while three of his children looked on.

Kenosha is about 40 miles south of Milwaukee.

We stand with our brothers in solidarity as we fight for justice and change. pic.twitter.com/HfCFqvvfKk

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) August 27, 2020

NBA players didn’t come to Disney solely for a restart to their season. They also wanted social reform, as did other sports leagues – many of which followed the NBA’s lead Wednesday by calling off games. Some NFL teams did the same Thursday, choosing not to practice.

It followed a similar pattern as what happened in March: The NBA was the first league to shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, and other sports followed then as well.

“The biggest thing that we all understand is if we’re not playing, what are we doing? What are we doing to show and to help what’s going on outside this bubble?” Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams said, shortly before the Bucks were scheduled to tip off their game against the Magic.

Instead, the Bucks players remained in the locker room, finally emerging hours later to read a statement demanding action from lawmakers and encouraging voting by citizens.

They changed the narrative across the entire sports landscape, putting the focus squarely on social justice reform in protest of the shooting of Blake.

While players and teams from baseball, the WNBA and MLS sat out their competitions Wednesday night, NBA players and coaches met for nearly three hours in a Disney hotel to determine next steps, including whether the season should continue. They did not come to a consensus, a person with knowledge of the meeting told AP on condition of anonymity because details weren’t revealed publicly.

More talks took place in the early hours of Thursday, followed by the player meeting that morning to decide to continue the season.

Before coming to Disney, many NBA players wrestled for weeks about whether it was even right to play, fearing that a return to games would take attention off the deaths of, among others, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in recent months.

They ultimately decided coming to the bubble and playing televised games would give them the largest platform, though now at least some are wondering if that’s still true.

It appears now they will find out if that’s the case.

The Toronto Blue Jays game against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night in Buffalo, N.Y. has also been postponed. This is the first game the Blue Jays will sit out as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The NHL has postponed all four of its playoff games scheduled for Thursday and Friday after they went ahead with three playoff contests on Wednesday.

The next scheduled MLS game was set for Friday night between Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact at Saputo Stadium. Both teams have media availabilities planned for Thursday afternoon.