Bucks’ travel issues departing New Orleans cause delay in Thursday’s game with Heat

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee’s scheduled game with the Miami Heat on Thursday has been pushed back an hour due to the Bucks’ difficulties arriving from snowy weather in New Orleans.

The NBA announced at 4:05 p.m. Central time — less than two hours before the game’s scheduled start — that it would begin at 7:30 p.m. rather than 6:30 p.m.

The Bucks had been stuck in New Orleans, where they had arrived Monday to prepare to face the Pelicans on Wednesday. That game got postponed after a historic winter storm Tuesday dumped about a foot of snow there, with many of the city’s roads remaining coated in ice a day later.

The Bucks weren’t able to leave New Orleans until Wednesday and still hadn’t arrived in Milwaukee by the time the scheduled game with the Heat was delayed. The Heat didn’t have any weather issues and were in Milwaukee in time to participate in a Wednesday morning shootaround.

“Thankfully we haven’t had to deal with the weather situation, but I think everybody’s glad we’re playing this game tonight,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It just gets a lot more complicated when you have to push it down the road.”

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