Heat-Bulls game postponed due to condensation on the court

The Bulls and Heat were set to face off on Thursday — but the court won instead.

After a nearly two-hour delay at the United Center in Chicago, officials postponed the game due to condensation on the court after the arena crew attempted to dry the playing surface with mops and towels.

Officials cited “court conditions” as the reasoning behind postponing the contest, and boos rang out from the crowd when the move was made at 8:53 p.m.

“Tonight’s game has officially been postponed due to court conditions,” the Bulls said in a statement. “The game will be made up at a later date and tickets from tonight’s game will be valid for the rescheduled game. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

According to Chicago Sports Network, players on both teams felt the condensation early on — saying that the court was slippery just when walking — and that the situation grew worse when fans arrived due to the open doors letting in the humid Chicago weather.

“We always want to try to go. But players were complaining about it on both sides,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters, per CSN. “Staff went out there and pretty much immediately we felt that it wasn’t playable.”

Although bizarre, this situation has occurred in the NBA on rare occasions before, most recently at TD Garden during a game between the Celtics and Clippers during the 2009-10 season.

That game, which the Celtics ended up winning 95-89, was only delayed briefly in the first quarter due to court condensation.

Then-Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said the incident reminded him of a game that was canceled for the same reason during his playing days with the Hawks — during the 1990-91 season, a game between Boston and Atlanta was postponed due to a slippery court.

“The Celtics had the court wet on the Hawks’ side, offensively, and got up by 30 and then called the game, which the people in Atlanta thought was very unfair at the time,” Rivers told reporters then.