ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Concerns over Hurricane Milton and its effects on Florida forced the cancellation of Friday's preseason game in Orlando between the Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans, the NBA said. The game will not be rescheduled.
Orlando was playing at San Antonio on Wednesday night and was scheduled to return to central Florida on Thursday. Those plans are now in flux because of the storm, which forecasters say was set to make landfall somewhere on the Gulf coast of Florida sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday. The Magic-Pelicans game is the second NBA preseason matchup to be affected by Milton.
A game scheduled for Thursday in Miami between the Heat and Atlanta Hawks was postponed until Oct. 16 because of storm concerns. Also called off earlier this week: a rescheduled NHL preseason game on Friday in Tampa between the Lightning and Predators — one that was originally set to be played last month and was postponed because of Hurricane Helene.
“Stay safe Florida!” former Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos, who is entering his first season with Nashville, posted on social media Wednesday. “Thinking about all the amazing people in the Tampa area right now.” Countless college and high school events in Florida also have been canceled or postponed because of the storm, which forecasters say is likely to bring drenching rain across a wide swath of the state.
For now, two planned exhibitions by Simone Biles and other Olympic gymnasts — part of the “Gold Over Am.