After a winter-storm delay and a plane-equipment issue, the San Antonio Spurs are finally on their way home to play the Orlando Magic. But in order to give the Spurs adequate time to prepare, the NBA has now pushed back the contest to 9 p.m. ET.
The NBA anticipated weather would be an issue Saturday. With the Spurs unable to leave Charlotte due to a winter storm, the league initially pushed the game time back from 3 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET.
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But the Spurs experienced a minor equipment issue on their plane out of Charlotte on Sunday, forcing the team to stop in Atlanta so it could switch to a new plane. That unexpected delay forced the league to push back the game’s start time to 9 p.m. ET.
The Spurs were initially supposed to leave Charlotte following San Antonio’s 111-106 loss to the Hornets on Saturday. But Charlotte saw 11 inches of snow during the day, causing the Spurs to reschedule their flight to Sunday, hoping things would be clearer by then.
That proved to be true … but then their plane experienced an equipment issue.
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After a stop in Atlanta, the Spurs’ plane finally got off the ground around 2:22 p.m. ET. It’s a two-hour flight to get back to San Antonio. From there, the team will presumably head straight to the arena to prepare for Sunday’s game against the Magic.
Following Saturday’s loss, the Spurs sit at 32-16 entering Sunday, good for third place in the Western Conference. The Magic, meanwhile, are 25-22 and in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
The travel issues could wind up playing a significant role in Sunday’s contest. The two teams have already met once this season, with the Spurs picking up a narrow 114-112 win over the Magic back in early December.
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The Spurs will need to dig deep following a difficult couple hours of travel if they want to push past the Magic on Sunday.
