The 10 NBA teams with games scheduled on Christmas were told by the league Tuesday that shifting some game times is a possibility for the planned five-game slate, if virus-related issues force changes to the lineup.
The league told the teams the priority is filling the ABC windows for Saturday's games, which means the slots at 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET. For now, those games, in order, would have Boston at Milwaukee, Golden State at Phoenix and Brooklyn at the Los Angeles Lakers.
The other games on the Christmas schedule are Atlanta at New York at noon Eastern, and Dallas at Utah at 10:30 p.m. Eastern. Both of those games are scheduled to be shown on ESPN.
The league called the notion of shifting game times - which may happen if a game is postponed - a contingency plan in the memo distributed to the teams involved and obtained by The Associated Press. Decisions on whether shifting times is needed could come as late as Friday. Any decisions made on Saturday to postpone a Christmas game would not impact the remainder of the day's schedule, the league said.
The 10 teams scheduled to play on Christmas had more than 30 players in the protocols on Tuesday afternoon, though those numbers can change quickly.
Commissioner Adam Silver said there were no plans to pause the season.
"We've of course looked at all the options, but frankly we're having trouble coming up with what the logic would be behind pausing right now," he told NBA Today.
Silver said about 90% of positive cases in the league are from the omicron variant, called it the "beyond dominant" case in the league.
Commissioner Adam Silver joined NBA Today to talk about COVID in the league as Christmas Day approaches.
Silver said there are currently no plans to pause the season. pic.twitter.com/LFIPCCejnQ
The NBA has postponed seven games so far this season, but none from Wednesday onward yet.
Top NBA players were added to the protocols list Tuesday, including Toronto's Fred VanVleet and Atlanta teammates Danilo Gallinari and Clint Capela - joining a Hawks list that already included Trae Young.
There were some notable removals from the protocols list Tuesday. The Lakers said Dwight Howard and Talen Horton-Tucker would be available to play Tuesday night against Phoenix. But Lakers coach Frank Vogel and four players remain out, all because of protocols.
The NHL postponed Tuesday's Washington Capitals-Philadelphia Flyers game because of COVID-19 issues with the Capitals.
The NHL has postponed 50 games this season for COVID-related reasons.
Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights announced that Alex Pietrangelo and Evgenii Dadonov weren't available for Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning because of COVID-19 protocol.
That's the last game on the NHL schedule until after Christmas. Monday night, the league said it would start the Christmas two days earlier than usual.
ESPN "First Take" commentator Stephen A. Smith said on Tuesday morning's broadcast that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and was experiencing mild symptoms.
The 54-year-old Smith, who has become the face of ESPN, said he tested positive over the past weekend. He said he had tested negative numerous times on his trip to Los Angeles and upon returning to New York.
Two days after taking a forfeit loss due to COVID-19, Seton Hall's basketball team has picked up a win in the same fashion.
DePaul forfeited Thursday's scheduled home game against the Pirates because the Blue Demons cannot field the minimum of seven scholarship players due to positive COVID tests within their program, the Big East said.
The contest is canceled and will not be rescheduled, per Big East policy.
Indiana canceled its game against Wright State, scheduled for Tuesday night "due to COVID-19 implications resulting from positive cases within Wright State's tier one individuals." The game will not be rescheduled.
Contributing: Mike Brehm, Scooby Axson, Jerry Carino, Matthew VanTryon
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: COVID-19 disrupts sports: NBA has Christmas game contingency plan, no plan to pause season