Heat-Bulls game at the United Center postponed due to condensation on the court

CHICAGO (AP) — The game between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Thursday night was postponed after a nearly two-hour delay due to condensation on the court.

The officials cited "court conditions” for the delay in starting the contest. There appeared to be moisture on the floor at the United Center, which is also home to the Chicago Blackhawks, who played Wednesday and will skate at the arena again Friday. Workers tried to dry the surface using mops and towels.

The game was officially postponed at 8:53 p.m., prompting boos from the crowd. A rescheduled date for the game was not immediately announced, although the Bulls said tickets from Thursday would be honored.

The Bulls entered at 17-20 and on a three-game losing streak. The contest was supposed to be the second in a four-game trip for the Heat (20-17).

Referee Sean Wright told a pool reporter that players first informed him of the slippery court during warmups. Despite efforts by the United Center staff — including shuffling across the floor with thick towels on their feet — “we just couldn’t guarantee a safe on-court experience,” Wright said.

“At 9:13 on the warm-up clock, some Miami players came and said the court was real slippery and at the same time some Bulls players came over as well,” Wright said. “So, I checked the court conditions and then I immediately got on the horn and notified the (NBA) Replay Center what was going on.”

The decision to delay the start of the game wasn't announced on the United Center public address system until tipoff.

“We tried to work together to see if we could fix the problem," Wright said. ”We had ongoing talks and tried some different stuff on the court, and nothing seemed to work."

Both teams realized the conditions were too risky.

“We always want to try to go,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “The players were complaining about it on both sides. So pretty much indeed we felt that it wasn't playable.

“We have that in our practice facility and when there's condensation it takes about 15 minutes for it to change. So we weren't too optimistic it was going to change.”

Spoelstra added players could feel the slipperiness in pregame warmups.

“By the time I got out there, all the players were complaining,” he said.

Bulls guard Tre Jones told reporters that players kept awaiting a final word.

“They were just telling us, that pretty much, they were gonna' keep waiting,” Jones said. “It was like 15-minute segments and every 15 minutes would go by and they're just like trying to continue to work on it to make sure we had a safe playing field, but just couldn't get it figured out.”

Jones, who was in the starting lineup on his 26th birthday, said he could feel the slipperiness.

“I think as more people got in the gym and everything it just got warmer," he said. "So I think it continued to get a little bit worse, a little more slippery.”

About 40 minutes after the expected 7:05 p.m. tipoff time, an announcement was made that the expected start time would be after 8 p.m. local time.

Maintenance personnel pushed large mops across court while players from both teams milled about dribbling, shooting and chatting at the start of the delay. At about 7:50 p.m. players and coaches returned to their dressing rooms and the floor was cleared to allow workers to attempt to dry the the surface using mops and towels.

Game officials, then Heat players and coaches, started returning to the floor at 8:25 p.m. Bulls coaches and a handful of Chicago players led by Coby White followed minutes later and filtered about. Bulls head coach Billy Donovan and Miami's Spoelstra were among those chatting.

The teams then exited the court at 8:45 p.m. without attempting to warm up.

Temperatures in Chicago reached the mid-50s on a rainy Thursday.

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United Center employees try to dry the court before an NBA basketball game between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls in Chicago, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

United Center employees try to dry the court before an NBA basketball game between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls in Chicago, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

United center employees cleans the court during a delay before an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat in Chicago, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

United center employees clean the court during a delay before an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat in Chicago, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

United center employees clean the court during a delay before an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat in Chicago, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. military. The Trump administration has been targeting sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.

The pre-dawn action was carried out by U.S. Marines and Navy, taking part in the monthslong buildup of forces in the Caribbean, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.

Navy officials couldn’t immediately provide details about whether the Coast Guard was part of the force that took control of the vessel as has been the case in the previous seizures. A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said there was no immediate comment on the seizure.

The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.

The latest:

Trump is expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.

He hopes to secure $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s oil industry. The goal rides on the executives’ comfort with investing in a country facing instability and inflation.

Since a U.S. military raid captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has said there’s a new opportunity to use the country’s oil to keep gasoline prices low.

The full list of executives invited to the meeting has not been disclosed, but Chevon, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend.

Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs.

The Trump administration has cited concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families and their children. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York states filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The lawsuit asks the courts to order the administration to release the funds. The attorneys general have called the funding freeze an unconstitutional abuse of power.

Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed decisive punishment for protesters, signaling a coming crackdown against demonstrations.

Iranian state television reported the comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on Friday. They came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Trump’s support for the protesters, calling Trump’s hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.”

The government has shut down the internet and is blocking international calls. State media has labeled the demonstrators as “terrorists.”

The protests began over Iran’s struggling economy and have become a significant challenge to the government. Violence has killed at least 50 people, and more than 2,270 have been detained.

Trump questions why a president’s party often loses in midterm elections and suggests voters “want, maybe a check or something”

Trump suggested voters want to check a president’s power and that’s why they often deliver wins for an opposing party in midterm elections, which he’s facing this year.

“There’s something down, deep psychologically with the voters that they want, maybe a check or something. I don’t know what it is, exactly,” he said.

He said that one would expect that after winning an election and having “a great, successful presidency, it would be an automatic win, but it’s never been a win.”

Hiring likely remained subdued last month as many companies have sought to avoid expanding their workforces, though the job gains may be enough to bring down the unemployment rate.

December’s jobs report, to be released Friday, is likely to show that employers added a modest 55,000 jobs, economists forecast. That figure would be below November’s 64,000 but an improvement after the economy lost jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to slip to 4.5%, according to data provider FactSet, from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.

The figures will be closely watched on Wall Street and in Washington because they will be the first clean readings on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.

FILE - President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)