Stranded in an ice storm in Dallas, the Detroit Pistons have been unable to fly home to host a Wednesday night game against the Washington Wizards — which has led to its postponement.
Thousands of flights have been grounded in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and there’s a possibility that the Pistons, who originally planned to fly out after Monday night’s loss to the Mavericks, won’t be allowed to fly back to Michigan until Thursday, sources told ESPN.
The Pistons spent seven hours at a Dallas airport Tuesday before having to return to a hotel, sources said. The Pistons have back-to-back home games Friday and Saturday against Charlotte and Phoenix.
The Mavericks’ next opponent, the New Orleans Pelicans, were unable to fly into the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Wednesday ahead of the teams’ scheduled game on Thursday night.
The Pelicans, who played in Denver on Tuesday, are staying in Denver on Wednesday night and will attempt to fly into Dallas prior to Thursday night’s game if weather permits. According to a team source, one option for New Orleans was to fly to Oklahoma City and take a bus to Dallas, but after speaking with the league, the Pelicans were allowed to fly in on the day of the game.
New Orleans was originally scheduled to practice in the Dallas area on Wednesday but instead did so in Denver.
The NBA on Wednesday said that a date for the rescheduled Wizards-Pistons game would be announced at a later time.
ESPN’s Andrew Lopez contributed to this report.