ATLANTA — The deep freeze which engulfed the Southeast on Tuesday forced the Detroit Pistons' game at the Atlanta Hawks set for Wednesday night to be postponed and threatened the status of other contests.
The Pistons were unable to make their scheduled flight into Atlanta on Tuesday night from Detroit. The NBA announced Wednesday morning the game was postponed "due to severe weather conditions in the Atlanta area."
No date was immediately announced for the rescheduled game.
However, games at Georgia and Georgia Tech are going to be played as scheduled.
The Bulldogs announced their home game against Vanderbilt will be played while Georgia Tech also plans to play its home game against North Carolina. But the Bulldogs-Commodores matchup will not be televised as scheduled because Comcast Sports could not get its truck to Athens.
Alabama decided to postpone its men's basketball game at Auburn. The game scheduled for Wednesday was moved to Thursday.
Also, the Georgia State men's basketball game against South Alabama scheduled for Thursday night in Atlanta was postponed and rescheduled for Monday after the South Alabama team was unable to travel to Atlanta.
The winter storm trapped thousands of motorists on Atlanta's frozen interstates, including Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, Georgia Tech sports information director Dean Buchan and Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman.
Buchan told The Associated Press on Wednesday morning he was stuck in his car on I-285 through Tuesday night. He said he was in his car for 19 ½ hours before finally making it home Wednesday morning.
Freeman tweeted he was stuck for 11 hours before being rescued by former teammate Chipper Jones in his 4-wheeler.
"A moment I'll never forget!," Freeman said on his Twitter account before adding that Jones "hugged me the whole way home!"
Ohio State's offensive coordinator was stuck on an Atlanta interstate for 19 hours before leaving his rental car on Wednesday morning. Herman began walking with his luggage and caught a ride to the airport.
He tweeted he was stranded "with hundreds of my closest friends. Too much ice and accidents to move." After getting to the airport, he tweeted, "Now boarding the plane. Please pray for those still on the roads. Probably 24 hrs til cleared."
It's unclear what happened to the rental car.
Georgia coach Mark Fox also used his Twitter account to encourage students to brave the snow and ice and attend Wednesday night's men's basketball game against Vanderbilt.
Fox told the students they were needed because Atlanta "is a straight up mess" and wouldn't be able to travel due to the winter storm.
Georgia announced students will have no admission charge for the game.
There were other games postponed on Wednesday, including Division II North Greenville University's game at King University in Bristol, Tenn. Also, the Tusculum men's and women's doubleheader at Mars Hill (N.C.) was postponed.