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The NFL is allowing teams to get a head start on interviewing head coaches and general managers in the final two weeks of the season, pending a ‘no’ from that candidate’s current team. For a team like the Chicago Bears, it would make sense to take advantage of the new rule and get a head start on the coaching search.

Going into Week 15, the Bears are sitting at 4-9 overall and it’s very likely that there will be changes moving forward not only with the coaching staff but the front office as well. So why not get a head start?

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Interim coach Derek King’s honeymoon might be ending.

The good feelings probably aren’t going away. King’s positivity and nonchalance are part of his personality, and his image as a regular guy thrown in charge of the Blackhawks is captivating.

But the oft-discussed “new coach bump” is starting to wear off. Hawks players and fans are getting used to who he is, who he isn’t and what he does and doesn’t emphasize in this hard-to-wrangle sport.

Now comes the second chapter of King’s tenure, in which the focus turns to the long-term future and figuring out if he’s capable of leading the Hawks through that. After all, the concept of a regular guy being an NHL coach remains fun only if he’s winning.

King still is making a decent case. The Hawks are 10-6-2 since he took over Nov. 6 after consecutive overtime losses to the Predators and Stars. Before Saturday, he had alternated wins and losses for 14 consecutive games, which is better than what the Hawks were doing under predecessor Jeremy Colliton.

The comparisons to Colliton must end eventually, though, and now might be a good time.

The Hawks set the bar so low during his remarkably awful final stretch that merely clearing it doesn’t mean things are golden. Yes, the Hawks’ even-strength scoring-chance ratio, for example, has risen significantly, from 43.9% under Colliton to 47.5% under King. But 47.5% is still under 50% and ranks 24th in the league.

Interim general manager Kyle Davidson rightly has given King the keys to coach the Hawks for the rest of the season while the team reconstructs its upper-level leadership. That process already is well underway, and once it’s complete, the new boss’ top summer priority will be naming a permanent coach.

King, initially a long shot, has made himself a legitimate candidate. His interpersonal skills, in particular, have stood out.

He has relaxed and united a once-fragile locker room, teaching his players never to panic. He has earned the faith of the team’s few veterans and built upon his pre-existing relationships with many young players.

King has given each player a sense of freedom on the ice, letting them follow their instincts without overthinking each situation, while establishing a consistent, effective structure.

His lack of ego and willingness to delegate duties has created harmony among the coaches, too, with defensive coach Marc Crawford and goalie coach Jimmy Waite taking on large roles.

It all has proved to be exactly what the Hawks needed to stabilize themselves during this crisis-laden season.

But does King have what it takes to not only rescue a shipwrecked team, but also steer a contending team to the playoffs year after year? That’ll be the Hawks’ long-term goal, and they don’t know if King has those kinds of chops.

His knowledge of players on other teams and how to match up lines against them is lacking. His delegations to Crawford and Waite border on deferential, and the Hawks naming co-head coaches would be unprecedented. His system grinds out plenty of points in one-goal games but wouldn’t push a talented team to the top of the standings.

If King’s results over the rest of the season are good enough, the Hawks might be willing to overlook those concerns and see how long he can ride the wave. Stranger things have worked in this fickle sport.

But as King’s weeks stretch into months, leaving behind the flattering comparisons to Colliton, he’ll have to prove his approach is sustainable.

Note: The NHL on Sunday suspended Brett Connolly for four games for his hit Saturday on Stars forward Tanner Kero. Barring additional postponements, Connolly will be eligible to return Jan. 2 against the Flames.

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The Chicago Bulls were back on Sunday night after a few games were postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Their last game came on December 11th when they lost to the Miami Heat which was the second loss in a row for them. It was getting hard to win with some of the key players in the protocol so the pause was necessary.

Sunday’s game was against the Los Angeles Lakers and they were able to win it by a final score of 115-110. They had enough players good to go in this one which allowed them to overcome LeBron James’s squad. James had 31 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists but it wasn’t enough against the Bulls who look back and are better than ever.

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Stephen Curry took center stage to start the week as he continued his pursuit of Ray Allen’s 3-point record. Curry hit six 3s on Monday night against the Indiana Pacers to pull within two shots of the top spot, then quickly hit two 3s in the first quarter of Tuesday’s win over the New York Knicks, bringing the crowd at Madison Square Garden to its feet.

The focus has quickly shifted to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which caused three games to be postponed on Sunday alone due to the high number of players entering the league’s health and safety protocols. The Brooklyn Nets announced Friday that Kyrie Irving, who has not played all season due to New York’s vaccination mandates, would be activated for road games in the wake of a team outbreak. Irving, however, entered protocols the next day, and he is one of 10 players on the team out because of health and safety protocols.

Our experts break down where each team stands after a week of coronavirus-related postponements.

Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.

1. Phoenix Suns
2021-22 record: 24-5
Previous ranking: 1

Suns leading scorer Devin Booker made his return to the court on Sunday night after missing seven games with a hamstring injury. Phoenix put up a balanced effort without Booker, but one player in particular who stepped up his play was reserve forward Cameron Johnson. In 30.3 minutes per night in the seven contests, Johnson averaged 14.6 points and was Phoenix’s second-leading scorer in that stretch. — Lopez

2. Golden State Warriors
2021-22 record: 24-6
Previous ranking: 2

Stephen Curry broke Ray Allen’s all-time 3-point record at Madison Square Garden early in the week, and the Warriors went on to finish with a 3-2 mark on their five-game East Coast swing by week’s end. Klay Thompson is still on track to come back in a few weeks, but Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins both entered health and safety protocols to close the week ahead of a Christmas Day showdown with the Suns. — Friedell

3. Brooklyn Nets
2021-22 record: 21-9
Previous ranking: 4

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The recent surge of COVID-19 cases in New York also has overwhelmed the Nets. A staggering 10 players went into the league’s health and safety protocols during the week, including superstars Kevin Durant and James Harden, as well as the newly reinstated Kyrie Irving. Once all three emerge from their time away from the team, they will have a chance to be on the court together for the first time since the opening moments of Game 1 of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals against the Bucks when Harden injured his hamstring. — Bontemps

4. Utah Jazz
2021-22 record: 20-9
Previous ranking: 3

Utah was the NBA’s hottest team before its eight-game winning streak was halted by head-scratching home losses in back-to-back games against the Spurs and Wizards. The Jazz have the league’s best net rating (plus-10.5 points per 100 possessions), but Utah has been mediocre in clutch situations (6-8 in games within five points in the final five minutes). — MacMahon

5. Milwaukee Bucks
2021-22 record: 19-13
Previous ranking: 5

Milwaukee has been without both Giannis Antetokounmpo (health and safety) and Khris Middleton (knee) in recent games, but Jrue Holiday has stepped up his production in their absence. Holiday averaged 28.7 points with nine assists, three rebounds and two steals in three games last week as the Bucks looked to stay afloat — again — with a depleted roster. — Collier

6. Chicago Bulls
2021-22 record: 18-10
Previous ranking: 7

After being shut down for a week amid a teamwide COVID-19 outbreak, the Bulls returned to play on Sunday with a victory over the Lakers. DeMar DeRozan, the NBA’s leading scorer during the fourth quarter, picked up where he left off in his first game back from health and safety protocols, dropping 19 of his 38 points in the final period to clinch the game. DeRozan, Coby White and Javonte Green have all cleared the league’s protocols, and the Bulls could have more reinforcements on the way by the end of the week. — Collier

7. Cleveland Cavaliers
2021-22 record: 19-12
Previous ranking: 10

The Cavs suffered a string of setbacks related to health and safety protocols on Sunday, with five players — Jarrett Allen, Lamar Stevens, Dylan Windler, Denzel Valentine and RJ Nembhard Jr. — all testing in, leading to the postponement of their game against the Hawks. That’s about the only thing that could stop Cleveland these days, as it is riding a six-game winning streak to move up to No. 3 in the East. — McMenamin

8. Miami Heat
2021-22 record: 18-13
Previous ranking: 6

The banged-up Heat went 2-2 on the week — including a disappointing loss to the Pistons in which Miami shot just 37.8% from the field. With Bam Adebayo (thumb surgery) and Jimmy Butler (tailbone) still out, the Heat have gotten a couple of nice games from reserve Max Strus, who scored a combined 56 points and grabbed 11 rebounds over Miami’s past two games. — Friedell

9. Memphis Grizzlies
2021-22 record: 19-12
Previous ranking: 9

The Grizzlies have managed to win 10 of 12 games since star point guard Ja Morant went down with a sprained left knee on Nov. 26. Five Memphis regulars are scoring in double figures during the stretch, led by Dillon Brooks‘ 20.5 points per game. Fill-in starting point guard Tyus Jones has 73 assists and only 13 turnovers in the dozen games, during which he has the Grizzlies’ second-best plus-minus (plus-119). — MacMahon

10. LA Clippers
2021-22 record: 16-14
Previous ranking: 12

The week started with the Clippers winning their fourth straight and enjoying a blowout victory over the Suns without Paul George, but it ended with former Clippers guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drilling a buzzer-beating 3 to stun them in Oklahoma City and hand them a second straight loss. The Clippers need to get healthy. George has missed five straight with an elbow injury, but he could be nearing a return. The Clippers lost Marcus Morris Sr., who had just been warming up after returning from a knee injury, to health and safety protocols. Reggie Jackson has been playing some heavy minutes and is banged up, as well. — Youngmisuk

11. Denver Nuggets
2021-22 record: 15-14
Previous ranking: 16

Christmas | Sat., Dec. 25
Hawks at Knicks, Noon
Celtics at Bucks, 2:30 p.m.
Warriors at Suns, 5 p.m.
Nets at Lakers, 8 p.m.
Mavericks at Jazz, 10:30 p.m.

All times Eastern

The Nuggets have won three of their past four games, and they were poised to face a decimated Nets squad on Sunday, before that game was postponed due to the Nets’ COVID-19 outbreak. Reigning league MVP Nikola Jokic has averaged 26.4 points, 13.1 rebounds, 9.2 assists and 58.3% shooting this month. Rookie Bones Hyland had the best game of his career with 24 points in a win over Atlanta, giving the Nuggets some firepower off the bench. — Youngmisuk

12. Philadelphia 76ers
2021-22 record: 15-15
Previous ranking: 8

It was a rough week for the 76ers, who dropped three games to Memphis, Miami and Brooklyn and had Sunday’s game postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak. Yes, the 76ers are missing Ben Simmons and have some injuries themselves, but things look very, very different in Philadelphia now as compared to when the team was leading the Eastern Conference through 10 games. — Bontemps

13. Los Angeles Lakers
2021-22 record: 16-15
Previous ranking: 13

“It’s going around the league,” Carmelo Anthony said, matter-of-factly, after L.A. lost at Chicago on Sunday with six players in health and safety protocols. “It’s going around other leagues. This is reality. This is life. This is stuff that we have to deal with, not just as basketball players but as people, society. These are things that we’re dealing with right now.” Not to mention, the Lakers are dealing with a sprained MCL in Anthony Davis‘ left knee, which is expected to sideline the big man for at least a month. — McMenamin

14. Washington Wizards
2021-22 record: 16-15
Previous ranking: 11

Washington’s hot 10-3 start has fizzled. The Wizards had lost seven of eight games, until coming up with one of their biggest wins of the season at Utah. Bradley Beal, however, might be heating up. He has averaged 31 points in his past three games, including scoring a season-high 37 in the win versus the Jazz. Washington got Kyle Kuzma back out of health and safety protocols last week, but Spencer Dinwiddie is in a slump, averaging just 6.8 points, 26.8% shooting and only 14.8% 3-point shooting this month. — Youngmisuk

15. Boston Celtics
2021-22 record: 15-15
Previous ranking: 17

Boston has, at least so far, survived its challenging December schedule, going 4-5 through the first nine games of the month, prior to key games against the 76ers and Cavaliers this week and a Christmas Day matchup with the Bucks in Milwaukee. While the Celtics have several players out due to COVID-19, they finally have Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown healthy and on the court together again. In the 379 minutes they’ve shared the court this season, Boston is outscoring its opponents by six points per 100 possessions. — Bontemps

16. Charlotte Hornets
2021-22 record: 16-16
Previous ranking: 14

Charlotte has dropped three of its past four and still has two tough games to close out a six-stop West Coast swing. The bright spot for the Hornets came Wednesday night when Gordon Hayward dropped 41 points in a win over the Spurs. The good news for the Hornets is that LaMelo Ball returned to the lineup on Friday after missing just over two weeks in health and safety protocols. — Friedell

17. Dallas Mavericks
2021-22 record: 14-15
Previous ranking: 18

The Mavs split their past four games while Luka Doncic nursed his sore left ankle and worked on his conditioning. When he comes back, Dallas needs Doncic to give a much better defensive effort than he has this season. The Mavs have been a bottom-five defense with Doncic on the floor (112.2 points per 100 possessions) and a top-five defense without him (101.8). — MacMahon

18. Atlanta Hawks
2021-22 record: 14-15
Previous ranking: 15

Trae Young had his league-leading seventh 30-point, 10-assist game on Friday against the Nuggets. LeBron James is next with three such games this season. Young has three in the month of December alone. Those averages have become closer to the norm for him as of late. In eight games this month, Young is averaging 30.8 points and 9.9 assists, but he won’t be able to build on those numbers this week after sources say he tested positive for COVID-19. –– Lopez

19. Minnesota Timberwolves
2021-22 record: 15-15
Previous ranking: 20

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With four straight victories, the Timberwolves have climbed back to .500 despite losing guard Anthony Edwards to the health and safety protocols. Karl-Anthony Towns is leading the charge for Minnesota as the team begins to position itself firmly in the Western Conference playoff picture. Towns is averaging 27.3 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists during the month of December. — Collier

20. Toronto Raptors
2021-22 record: 14-15
Previous ranking: 19

While OG Anunoby finally returned to the lineup Saturday night after missing a month with a hip injury, Pascal Siakam will miss the next several days after entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Still, Toronto — behind impressive rookie Scottie Barnes — has managed to stay in the playoff race despite a constant shuffling of the lineup. — Bontemps

21. Portland Trail Blazers
2021-22 record: 13-18
Previous ranking: 22

The Blazers might’ve come up with their two biggest wins of the season this week. Certainly, they are the two most important victories considering how things were spiraling for Portland. The Blazers needed 43 points and eight assists from Damian Lillard to halt a seven-game losing streak and beat the Hornets on Friday. Then the Blazers followed that up by beating the Grizzlies in Memphis on Sunday. It was just their third win since Nov. 24, a disastrous stretch that saw the Blazers lose 10 of 13 games. CJ McCollum missed his seventh straight game on Sunday, and he remains out with a lung injury. — Youngmisuk

22. New York Knicks
2021-22 record: 13-17
Previous ranking: 21

After Kemba Walker was removed from the rotation for nine games, he finally was put back on the court Saturday night — in Boston, no less. Coach Tom Thibodeau had no choice but to play him — every other point guard on the roster was either in health and safety protocols or injured. Walker scored 29 points, and when asked afterward if he wished to stay in New York, he said he “wants to play.” The Knicks have lost eight of their past 10 games. — Bontemps

23. Indiana Pacers
2021-22 record: 13-18
Previous ranking: 24

Indiana coach Rick Carlisle returned to practice on Sunday after missing the team’s past four games in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. The Pacers went 2-2 during his absence, but Carlisle should be back on the sidelines for Tuesday’s game against the Heat. — Collier

24. Sacramento Kings
2021-22 record: 13-18
Previous ranking: 25

It was a 2-2 week for the Kings, losing to the Raptors and Grizzlies and beating the Wizards and Spurs. With De’Aaron Fox in health and safety protocols for the game against San Antonio, Tyrese Haliburton stepped up with a season-high 27 points on 12-for-19 shooting, 11 assists and two steals. — McMenamin

25. San Antonio Spurs
2021-22 record: 11-17
Previous ranking: 23

Dejounte Murray topped the Spurs in scoring on Sunday night. He was the sixth different player to lead the team in points in the past six games, following Derrick White, Lonnie Walker, Jakob Poeltl, Bryn Forbes and Keldon Johnson. It also was San Antonio’s fifth consecutive game with a different leading rebounder: Tre Jones, Poeltl, White, Murray and then Johnson on Sunday. — Lopez

26. Houston Rockets
2021-22 record: 10-20
Previous ranking: 26

Garrison Mathews made converting his two-way deal to a standard contract a priority for the Rockets, who rewarded him this week with a four-year deal worth $8.2 million. Mathews has started the past 12 games for the Rockets. Houston is 8-4 in that span, during which Mathews has averaged 14.6 points and 3.9 rebounds with a 63.8 true shooting percentage. — MacMahon

27. New Orleans Pelicans
2021-22 record: 10-21
Previous ranking: 27

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After a 3-16 start, the Pelicans have won seven of their past 12 games and have shown steady improvement. For the season, the Pelicans rank in the bottom five in both offensive and defensive rating. However, since Nov. 24, they have an offensive rating of 111.3 and a defensive rating of 111.2, which rank 14th and 15th in the league, respectively, over that span. — Lopez

28. Oklahoma City Thunder
2021-22 record: 9-19
Previous ranking: 28

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s buzzer-beater over the Clippers overshadowed rookie Josh Giddey‘s near triple-double. Giddey finished two points shy but had 18 rebounds and 10 assists in the victory. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Giddey became the first teenager in NBA history to grab at least 15 rebounds and dish out at least 10 assists in a game. — MacMahon

29. Orlando Magic
2021-22 record: 6-25
Previous ranking: 29

Orlando has been ravaged by health and safety protocols, as well as injuries, but it managed to snap a seven-game losing skid on Saturday night against an equally undermanned Brooklyn squad. Veteran big man Robin Lopez poured in 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win over the Nets after not playing much at all this season. — Friedell

30. Detroit Pistons
2021-22 record: 5-24
Previous ranking: 30

The Pistons avoided setting a new franchise record on Sunday with a victory against the Heat to snap a 14-game losing streak. Detroit had not won since Nov. 17, and the losing skid — the second longest in the NBA this season, behind Houston’s 15-game streak — matched the longest in team history, joining the 1979-80 and 1983-94 squads. — Collier

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Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields has stumbled through the kind of season that leaves optimists picking through the weeds for hope. Last week, it was Bears coach Matt Nagy’s turn. Speaking to reporters after his team’s 45-30 loss to the Green Bay Packers, Nagy praised Fields for beating a blitz with an 11-yard floater to midfield on first down.

“That,” Nagy said, “was a big-boy throw.”

Player
Year
Starts
QBR
Jimmy Clausen
2010
10
13.8
Blaine Gabbert
2011
14
22.2
Josh Rosen
2018
13
24.1
Justin Fields
2021
9
27.4
Zach Wilson
2021
10
22.4
Source: ESPN Stats& Information

Fields has produced a number of other positive moments in nine starts, but the discrepancy between the ups and downs of his rookie season has been historic. His Total Quarterback Rating of 27.4 is the second worst this season, behind New York Jets rookie Zach Wilson, and it’s the fifth worst of any quarterback in NFL history who has started at least nine games in a season.

QBR was conceived in 2006, and the only quarterbacks who have posted a number worse than Fields in at least nine starts are Jimmy Clausen (2010), Blaine Gabbert (2011), Wilson and Josh Rosen (2018). You would have to scan past 75 names on the list of lowest QBRs in a season to find a quarterback who made a Pro Bowl roster at some time in his career, even as an alternate (Derek Carr, 2015 with a 43.1 QBR).

Fields has four games remaining to adjust the narrative, but as he prepares for Monday night’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings (8:20 p.m. ET, ESPN), it’s worth peeling away the noise and looking at the carnage to this point from a dispassionate perspective. All statistics and rankings in this story are through Week 14.

It takes a village to swamp a franchise quarterback, so perhaps we should start with the situation surrounding Fields. In their attempt to ease his transition to the NFL, the Bears might have made it more difficult. As a team, they have attempted an NFL-low 136 passes on first down, when defenses are likely to be in their most neutral sets.

Although the Bears have averaged a decent 4.24 yards on first-down rushes, they have still set up Fields for too many predictable passes on second down. Opponents have blitzed the Bears on second down at a higher rate (32.4%) than any other team. After a 26-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, in which Fields went 0-for-6 with two sacks on second down, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky called the Bears’ game plan “the worst I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields has had a historically bad season so far. But that doesn’t mean he can’t turn things around. Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

Although he hasn’t gotten much help from the Bears’ scheme, Fields has stumbled on his own in multiple areas. He has the NFL’s highest rates of interceptions and sacks, is tied for the league lead in fumbles and has been off target on the second-highest rate of his throws. And in the most important situations a quarterback faces — third down and in the red zone — he has been at his worst.

On 95 third-down plays, Fields has completed 33 passes, thrown six interceptions and been sacked 12 times. He has been off target on one out of every four throws, has taken a hit on 41.5% of the plays and converted three first downs via scrambles.

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In the red zone, meanwhile, Fields has accounted for five touchdowns on 32 total plays, ranking No. 33 among qualified quarterbacks. For perspective, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ Tom Brady leads the league with 27 touchdowns on 110 red zone plays.

Overall this season, Fields has been hit on an NFL-high 34.9% of his plays, whether they end up as passes, scrambles or designed runs. It’s fair to examine the role of pass protection amid the disaster of a highly mobile quarterback like Fields taking sacks and hits at a higher rate than any other quarterback. Unfortunately, the numbers don’t provide him much cover.

Among 38 quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts this season, Fields has the NFL’s third-highest pressure rate (36.1). But when backup Andy Dalton has played this season for the Bears, he has faced the league’s fourth-lowest pressure rate (23.5). In total this season, the Bears’ offensive line — which has worked through multiple injuries — ranks No. 9 in ESPN’s pass block win rate metric. Why the difference between Dalton and Fields? Is it possible the Bears have schemed and protected better for Dalton than Fields? Perhaps. But it’s worth noting that Fields has held the ball for an average of 2.87 seconds before throwing, seventh longest in the league. Dalton has thrown after an average of 2.61 seconds, a non-insignificant difference that means Fields gives pass rushers more time to apply pressure.

Category
Stat
NFL rank
Sack rate
10.9
32
Off-target rate
22.1
32
Interception rate
4.3
32
Fumbles
10
Tie for most
Rushing EPA
9.9
8
Source: ESPN Stats & Information

There is a lot to like about Fields, especially his creativity once a play breaks down. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, in fact, suggested last week that Fields has some “star qualities” during an interview on the Pat McAfee Show. Fields ranks No. 8 in the NFL in expected points added (EPA) on designed runs and scrambles, and has more rushing yards (385) than any quarterback other than Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen. He has suffered injuries to his ribs and left hand, but he has pushed through and does not appear to have been fazed by high-profile struggles in a big media market.

“That’s one of the hardest things,” Fields said, “[that] when you are losing, there are so many people saying this and that. But you have to look at positives and just build on that and just know this isn’t going to change overnight. You have to keep building. It’s going to be hard, but you just have to find the positive.”

An argument could be made that Fields’ worst games, in Week 3 against the Browns and Week 7 against the Buccaneers, are behind him. And to be sure, no quarterback should be written off after nine starts in a rookie season on a bad team. What we can do, however, is look at the history of quarterbacks who have struggled to a degree similar to Fields. QBR goes back 16 years, a full era in the quickly changing world of NFL quarterback play. In that time span, no one who has played at this level has elevated into a long-term answer for his team. That’s not to say Fields can’t. But if he does, he would be the first.

ESPN analytics writer Seth Walder contributed to this report.

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The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association came to an agreement Sunday night on rules allowing additional replacement players for teams dealing with players entering the league’s health and safety protocols, according to a memo obtained by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The amended rules, which were outlined in the memo, went into effect Sunday night, and they will remain in place until Jan. 19 — at which time the league will give teams further guidance on how things will proceed from there.

Under the agreement, a team will be allowed to sign a replacement player for each positive COVID-19 case that crops up across its roster. So, if a team has five positive cases of COVID-19, for example, it could sign five replacement players.

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Meanwhile, teams will have to sign at least one replacement player if they have two positive COVID-19 cases; at least two if they have three positive COVID-19 cases; and at least three if they have four or more positive COVID-19 cases.

The memo also states that any time a team is required to sign a player, that player must be available by the start of the team’s first game after the allowance to sign a replacement player is granted by the NBA.

Any replacement players who are signed also won’t count toward a team’s yearly salary and won’t add to its potential luxury tax payment. That is a significant difference for a team like the Brooklyn Nets, who are among the squads currently dealing with a significant COVID-19 outbreak. The Nets had Sunday’s game against the Denver Nuggets — as well as this Tuesday’s contest versus the Washington Wizards — postponed. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, each replacement player the Nets needed to sign, if his salary counted toward the luxury tax, would cost them roughly $500,000.

As part of the agreement, the NBA and the NBPA will scrap the limit on the number of games a two-way player is allowed to be on a team’s active roster. Under a previous agreement that the two sides came to this summer, there had been a 50-game limit. Now, that limit no longer exists, with players getting paid an amended rate if they wind up being active for more than 50 games this season.

The NBA postponed five games on Sunday — three that were scheduled to be played Sunday (New Orleans Pelicans–Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers–Atlanta Hawks and Nuggets-Nets), as well as Monday’s Orlando Magic–Toronto Raptors game and Tuesday’s Wizards-Nets game — as a result of the spike in positive COVID-19 cases that has swept through the league over the past week.

Dozens of players entered the health and safety protocols this past week, including stars such as Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Hawks guard Trae Young, along with Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel.

The first team with a significant outbreak this season, the Chicago Bulls, returned to action Sunday night for the first time since its games Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons and Thursday against the Raptors were postponed — the first postponements by the NBA this season. The Bulls beat the Lakers 115-110 in Chicago.

As positive cases mounted across the league, teams scrambled to fill out their rosters with replacement players to remain above the minimum of eight active players necessary to play an NBA game. On Saturday night, the Nets and Magic played a game in which the two teams combined to have 24 players missing due to either injury or the health and safety protocols and only 17 available players between them.

Several teams are hovering around the eight-player mark at the moment, in addition to those that had been slated to play in games that required postponements on Sunday.

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The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association came to an agreement Sunday night on rules over allowing additional replacement players for teams dealing with players entering the league’s health and safety protocols, according to a memo obtained by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The amended rules, which were outlined in the memo, went into effect Sunday night and will remain in place until Jan. 19 — at which time the league will give teams further guidance on how things will proceed from there.

Under the agreement, teams will be allowed to sign a replacement player for each positive COVID-19 case that crops up across its roster. So if a team has five positive cases of COVID-19, for example, it could sign five replacement players.

Meanwhile, teams will have to sign at least one replacement player if they have two positive COVID-19 cases; at last two if they have three positive COVID-19 cases; and at least three if they have four or more positive COVID-19 cases.

The memo also stated that any time a team signs a player it is required to sign, that player must be available by the start of the team’s first game after the allowance to sign a replacement player is granted by the NBA.

Any replacement players that are signed also won’t count toward a team’s yearly salary, and also will not add to their potential luxury tax payment. That is a significant difference for a team like the Brooklyn Nets, one of those currently dealing with a significant COVID-19 outbreak and had its game Sunday against the Denver Nuggets, as well as Tuesday’s game against the Washington Wizards, postponed. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, each replacement player the Nets needed to sign, if their salary counted toward the luxury tax, would cost them roughly $500,000.

As part of the agreement, the NBA and the NBPA also agreed to scrap the limit on the number of games a two-way player is allowed to be on a team’s active roster. Under a previous agreement the two sides came to this summer, there had been a 50-game limit. Now, that limit no longer exists, with players getting paid an amended rate if they wind up being active for more than 50 games this season.

The NBA postponed five games Sunday — three games that were scheduled to be played Sunday (New Orleans Pelicans–Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers–Atlanta Hawks and Nuggets-Nets) as well as the Orlando Magic–Toronto Raptors game Monday and the Wizards-Nets game Tuesday — as a result of the spike in positive COVID-19 cases sweeping through the league over the past week.

Dozens of players have entered the health and safety protocols this week, including stars like Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, as well as Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel.

The first team with a significant outbreak this season, the Chicago Bulls, returned to action Sunday night for the first time since its games Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons and Thursday against the Toronto Raptors were postponed, beating the Lakers 115-110 in Chicago. The Bulls’ postponements were the first by the NBA this season, only to be followed by the five additional postponements that came down Sunday.

As positive cases mounted across the league, teams scrambled to try to fill out their rosters with replacement players to remain above the minimum eight active player threshold necessary to play an NBA game. Saturday night, the Nets and Magic played a game where the two teams combined to have 24 players missing due to either injury or the health and safety protocols, and only 17 available players between them.

Several teams are hovering around the eight-player mark at the moment in addition to those that required postponements Sunday.

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DeMar DeRozan knows the nicknames.

“King of the Fourth,” “D-Money,” cute and all, but the Bulls veteran isn’t new to clutch time in an NBA game.

“I’m sure I’ve had some type of success, whether it was fourth quarter or late in the game, last four or five minutes of the game,” DeRozan said, when discussing his career.

DeRozan wasn’t wrong.

Back in Toronto he had big-shot moments, and then the past few seasons in San Antonio that trend continued.

But not like this.

Not like he’s displayed in his first 28 games as a Bull.

DeRozan entered the Lakers game on Sunday leading the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring with 7.7 points, and only added to that legend, scoring 19 in the final stanza to help the Bulls hold off the Lakers 115-110.

Not only did he do that damage late, but finished with 38 points, including going 16-of-17 from the free throw line.

“I just attribute it to my hard work, honestly,” DeRozan said of his assassin mentality late in games. “I kind of train and put my mind in the perspective of not early in the season to late in the season, I kind of go into games with that same mentality of understanding – I’m a big fan of boxing and I love watching a lot of guys figure out the fight early and kind of dominate later in the fight. They call it the championship rounds in boxing. I’m kind of big into that mentality late in games and understand that’s where it gets harder.

“So for me, figuring out ways to make it easier on myself and on my teammates, that’s the mentality I just approach it late in the game, and it’s been helpful for me and my teammates.”

A big reason why the Bulls are now 18-10.

“He was incredible,” coach Billy Donovan said of DeRozan’s latest performance. “Pretty amazing what he did, being out, missing games … his mental toughness, his heart, it was pretty amazing what he did.”

Considering the unknowns? Pretty amazing indeed.

The Lakers were undermanned, both by injury – no Anthony Davis (knee) – and the protocols, including being without head coach Frank Vogel. While the Bulls, who lost 10 players to the protocol the last few weeks and had two games postponed, were finally starting to get players back.

One being DeRozan.

So while there were some rough moments as expected, the two teams actually didn’t play a bad brand of basketball in that opening quarter. Turnovers were an issue for the Lakers, as they spit it up six times in that first quarter, but turnovers have been an issue for Los Angeles all season.

The Bulls struggled from three-point range (2-for-9), but shot 50% from the field in that opening stanza, and actually controlled the tempo with a 28-22 lead after one.

Both teams seemed to settle in, as the back and forth commenced.

If the first three quarters had the two teams trying to find a rhythm with a lot of new faces and lineups, the fourth quarter was about trading knockout punches.

Whether it was Coby White’s emphatic slam early in the quarter or DeRozan being that fourth-quarter monster, the entertainment factor jumped way up the scale.

So did the heart palpitations for the United Center crowd.

DeRozan hit a 20-footer with 52.6 seconds left to give the Bulls a one-point lead, and after a Russell Westbrook miss, DeRozan hit two clutch free throws with 15.6 seconds left.

Down three, the Lakers called timeout and got the ball to Carmelo Anthony for the long three attempt. He missed, as did Wayne Ellington off the offensive rebound.

Lonzo Ball grabbed the rebound, was fouled and iced the game with both free throws.

“Very impressive,” Bulls center Nikola Vucevic said of DeRozan’s outing. “It shows the type of player he is. DeMar is a helluva player. He really took over.”

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