Pelicans-Pacers game postponed due to leaky roof at Smoothie King Center
Wednesday’s game between the Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans has been postponed due to a persistent leak in the roof at Smoothie King Center in rainy New Orleans.
We might have a leaky roof situation here. Stay tuned… #Pacers #Pelicans pic.twitter.com/jpwzvCbYPb
— FOX Sports Indiana (@FSIndiana) February 8, 2018
I was told there was a leak in the roof that has caused some water to be on the court in spots. There are/were heavy rains in the New Orleans https://t.co/2cImBPVSvc
— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) February 8, 2018
“Well, we opened the building around 6 p.m. [Central Time] tonight, and the roof was fine, there wasn’t any intrusion coming in at all,” Smoothie King Center general manager Allan Freeman told Jeremiah Johnson of FOX Sports Indiana, noting that it wasn’t until after both teams had come out onto the court, done their pre-game shootarounds, and headed back to their locker rooms that the problem began to surface. “My best guess is we started noticing a small leak around 6:20, maybe 6:30.
“The thing with roof leaks is, you really don’t know where the intrusion is coming from,” Freeman said. “You know where it’s falling, but the leak itself could be 100 feet from where the water’s actually falling. So, we’re not actually going to try to repair the leak tonight, but we’re trying to create a catch basin, if you will, to catch where the water’s coming in so we can play the basketball game.”
That process didn’t happen as quickly as Freeman or anybody else involved in the event would’ve liked …
In case you aren't watching on TV, there's no way #Pacers and #Pelicans are tipping off at 8:30. It's 8:24, roof is still leaking, both teams still in locker rooms.
— Clifton Brown (@CliftonGBrown) February 8, 2018
… although the Pelicans remained determined to make the best out of a soggy situation.
Not all heroes wear capes @PierreTPelican pic.twitter.com/rRIFHle3S2
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 8, 2018
Game is delayed but as always in New Orleans the party didn’t hear no bell pic.twitter.com/v8SELWG1YI
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 8, 2018
In a rain delayed basketball game, @KingCakeBaby is not the hero we wanted, but the hero we needed ☠️ pic.twitter.com/Y0Fx6mO4GW
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 8, 2018
As 9 p.m. ET neared, the catch basin was in place, with arena staff and the teams planning to wait a few minutes to find out if it’s performing satisfactorily to keep the water off the court, thus protecting the players from having to try to run, plant and cut on a slippery surface.
Alvin Gentry and Nate McMillan are are standing under the spot of the leak with the refs. Players still haven't taken the court.
— Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) February 8, 2018
As 9 p.m. ET came and went, though, that hadn’t happened yet:
Delay continues as damage to the floor remains a concern. #Pacers #Pelicans pic.twitter.com/R4ws2gRChm
— FOX Sports Indiana (@FSIndiana) February 8, 2018
More than a half-hour later, everybody involved was still waiting on word:
The last update provided by Chuck Edwards – the PA announcer here, not a weatherman – was that the teams are in communication with #NBA to get update on situation and status of this game. Don't have any further info yet https://t.co/7qMZ4bEakP
— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) February 8, 2018
It finally came down at 9:44 p.m. ET, more than an hour and a half after the scheduled tip time:
The @NBA has postponed tonight’s game. We will offer info on refunds once available
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 8, 2018
It remains to be seen when the game will be made up. The rain date could loom large for both teams. Indiana is 30-25, in sixth place in the East, just 1 1/2 games out of third place and only two games out of ninth in the congested conference. New Orleans, too, is in a nip-and-tuck fight for a return to the postseason, sitting in eighth place in the West at 28-25, two games back of fifth-seeded Oklahoma City but just a half-game up on the ninth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.
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Dan Devine is a writer and editor for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@oath.com or follow him on Twitter!