Coronavirus: Mavericks beat Suns despite NBA hiatus… well not exactly

The NBA season might be suspended but the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks played out their scheduled matchup on NBA2K via Twitch.

Coronavirus has led to the indefinite postponement of the NBA after Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the season will not resume for at least 30 days amid the global pandemic, which continues to disrupt sport.

However, the Suns still gave fans their basketball fix, albeit virtually using video game NBA 2K20 on Friday.

gg @MavsGG! See you at home next week as we take on the Wolves! #WeAreTheValley | @Gatorade pic.twitter.com/09Pi83HhVA

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) March 14, 2020

The Suns will mirror their season on live streaming platform Twitch, and the Mavericks were Phoenix's first opponents – the two teams were scheduled to meet on the court in Dallas on Saturday.

With the NBA on hiatus, Dallas star Luka Doncic – in the virtual world – posted 50 points and tallied 19 assists as the Mavs beat the Suns 150-136.

NBA 2K20 streamer Antonio Saldivar, who represented the Suns as 'UniversalPhenom', told ESPN: "We are going to continue to play games.

"Might not be me playing every time, maybe someone bigger -- hint hint -- maybe someone else, but we are working to always have me involved."