NBA games lost yesterday: 5.

Total games missed: 423.

Earliest estimated date season can start: Feb. 1.

Projected player salary losses (through Feb. 1): More than $500 million.

Negotiations: The owners rejected the union's final offer. Players will vote tomorrow in New York on the league's final offer.

Today's best canceled game: Phoenix at Indiana. Larry Bird's Eastern Conference finalist plays host to a Suns team that would have been heavily retooled.

Pub Date: 1/05/99