NBA games lost yesterday: 7.

Total games missed: 271.

Earliest estimated date season can start: Jan. 15.

Projected player salary losses (through Jan. 15): $430 million.

Negotiations: Top negotiators for each side plan to meet in New York this weekend.

Today's best canceled game: Washington at Portland. Rasheed Wallace, traded from the Bullets to the Trail Blazers in the pre-Wizards days, missed another shot at his former teammates.

Pub Date: 12/12/98