DALLAS, TX– The guys who change the NHL ice to the NBA court were held out of Monday’s floor shift due to load management.

Herb Clifton, American Airlines Center’s operations manager, alerted the Mavericks that because it’s a long season he believed it was wise to rest his key floor changers.

“These decisions are never popular,” said Herb.  “But ultimately I think the fans would much rather attend a playoff game with a fully assembled court than a random regular season game with an assembled court.”

The night wasn’t a total loss.  A half-court was built by some of the role players and young prospects.  Herb and other high-level members of the operations crew were able to get a good look at the future of the floor shift team. 

“We used tonight for some important development that we believe will pay dividends down the road.” 

The Mavericks and Thunder were able to play half-court basketball until the ice began to melt and flooded the playing surface.  

Chris Paul was issued a warning for flopping, but the league rescinded it because he was literally flailing his arms trying to regain balance after running onto the ice.