:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/27650979/20131122_jla_aa1_334.0.jpg)
Procedure when playing the second game of a back-to-back on the road is to fly out immediately after the first night's game, win or lose. The Pistons are supposed to play the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, so the idea was to fly into Atlanta after Tuesday night's home game against the Orlando Magic. However, inclement weather in Georgia is forcing the Pistons to remain grounded in Detroit:
#Pistons can't travel to Atlanta tonight for Wednesday's game. Will try tomorrow.
— David Mayo (@David_Mayo) January 29, 2014
It snowed up to THREE inches Tuesday afternoon in parts of Georgia, which, combined with no salt trucks and the Michigan-Fall temperatures in the teens, resulted in icy and dangerous road conditions, gridlocking the city. Needless to say, the snow also created problems at the world's busiest airport [CNN]:
The last time the Atlanta airport used its four snow plows to actually plow snow was the great snow storm of January 2011, said airport spokesman Reese McCranie. The airport also has six snow brooms, four de-icers, seven spreaders, 100,000 gallons of de-icing fluids, 50,000 pounds of de-icing solid material and 50,000 pounds of a salt/sand mix to clear roadways.
Roughly 930 flights were canceled, including the Pistons' obviously. FOX Sports Detroit's Dave Hogg is even wondering if the game will get postponed.
Reading @J88Ryan's tweets from Atlanta and wondering if the Pistons-Hawks game is going to happen tomorrow.
— Dave Hogg (@Stareagle) January 29, 2014
The mayor of Atlanta is telling people to stay off the roads for 24 hours, so I think the NBA needs to postpone Pistons-Hawks.
— Dave Hogg (@Stareagle) January 29, 2014
The city has enough of a mess without 10,000 people trying to get to a basketball game.
— Dave Hogg (@Stareagle) January 29, 2014
I'd be surprised (and disappointed because I have plans to attend the game), but the roads are as dicey as I've ever seen for such little snow, especially since you can't predict PANIC from those two-wheel drivers who don't know how to handle the foreign flurries. It took many, including myself, several hours to drive relatively short distances, stopping to help push cars through large patches of ice; and I have friends who went out with their friends looking for their children stranded on school buses. I don't think the flight itself will be an issue Wednesday, but if it's going to take the Pistons several hours to get to Philips Arena from the airport, the league may decide it'd be better to just postpone.