Rockets and Thunder boycott Game 5

The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder have jointly agreed to boycott today's Game 5 of their playoff best-of-seven series, according to multiple reports.

The decision comes in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday that sent shockwaves through the country. Multiple N.B.A. players, including LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell, and Jaylen Brown have previously spoken out on the shooting.

Houston and Oklahoma City are the third and fourth teams to boycott their game today, following shortly after the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic boycotted their playoff game scheduled for 3 PM CT. Milwaukee did not take the court during pregame warm ups, and Orlando quickly returned to their locker room minutes prior to tipoff.

Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook were seen conversing in a room together minutes before the decision was reported that they were going to boycott the game. Paul is the president of the N.B.A.'s Players' Association. Westbrook spent the months before the restart advocating for change through peaceful protests.

Coach Mike D'Antoni was scheduled to speak in his pregame presser at around 3:45, but he did not make an appearance. At around 3:50, Rockets players were reported to be back in street clothes, and players and coaches from both teams were seen heading back to their respective team buses at 4 PM CT.

Robert Covington tweeted shortly after the decision was made, pleading for justice.

The N.B.A. officially postponed all of its games, including the night cap's Blazers-Lakers game, shortly after 4 PM CT.

By official N.B.A. rules, any team that boycotts a game is subject to an automatic forfeit in addition to a $5 million fine. It's hard to believe that Adam Silver and the league will enforce these punishments, however.