No Subject

With at least the first two weeks of the NBA regular season put on waivers,
let's
                 take a look at who benefited and who was hurt by having
those games wiped
                 from the schedule.

                 And we'll also take a look at the canceled games that we
wish would've been
                 played.

                 We're going on the assumption that Michael Jordan would've
returned for at least
                 one more season with the Bulls. Our NBA spies say there is
a pretty strong
                 chance that His Airness will grace us with his presence for
at least one more
                 season -- if there is a season.

                 Winnners

                  Nets: Hey, don't laugh, but New Jersey is on the verge of
becoming pretty darn
                 respectable. And of the eight games they'll miss, six were
against playoff teams
                 -- Cleveland, Indiana, Chicago, the Knicks, Utah and
Portland. And they miss
                 consecutive road games against the Bulls and Knicks.

                  Celtics: Rick Pitino has to be smiling as the first six
games wiped from
                 Boston's schedule were all against playoff teams -- the
Knicks, Miami (twice),
                 the Nets, the Bulls and Lakers.

                  Wizards: Washington's first 10 games are on the
                 home-road pattern. They'll miss six of those (three
                 home, three away), which will make the
                 travel-weary players happy.

                  Bulls: If Jordan and Scottie Pippen return (hey,
                 it's not as much of a longshot as, say, two months
                 ago), the fewer games the old vets play before the
                 playoffs, the better. But Jerry Reinsdorf will lose
                 revenue from five home games -- not that anyone
                 has any sympathy for Chicago.

                  Cavaliers: Six of their eight canceled games
                 were against playoff teams -- Chicago, the Nets,
                 Charlotte, the Knicks, the Lakers and Utah.

                  Bucks: Of their six canceled games, four were
                 against playoff teams -- Chicago, Utah and Indiana
                 (twice).

                  Timberwolves: Of the six games scratched off their
schedule, four were
                 against playoff teams -- Phoenix, the Lakers, the Knicks
and Seattle. And five of
                 those games were on the road, including visits to Seattle,
Phoenix and the Lakers.

                  Grizzlies: Canada's best NBA team dodges four playoff
teams -- the Lakers,
                 Utah, Minnesota and Utah -- among the six canceled games.

                  Nuggets: The team that lost 71 games last season dodged
four almost-certain
                 defeats (against Portland, Houston and back-to-back games
with the Sonics) in
                 their six canceled contests.

                  Suns: Phoenix avoids four games against playoff teams (San
Antonio, Portland,
                 Houston and Minnesota) among the six lost games.

                  Blazers: Four of the six canceled games were against
playoff teams --
                 Phoenix, San Antonio, Houston and a cross-country road game
vs. New Jersey.

                  Kings: OK, so they don't have Mitch Richmond anymore, but
Sacramento
                 doesn't have to make a killer road trip to Orlando, Miami,
Charlotte and New
                 York.

                  Lakers: Not that Shaq and Co. need the help, but of the
seven canceled
                 games, five were on the road, including a swing through
Atlanta, Cleveland,
                 Boston and Philadelphia.

                  Warriors: Golden State avoids home-and-home losses, er,
games against the
                 Sonics and Spurs.

                  Clippers: Michael Olowokandi's NBA education will start
without the road
                 swing through Phoenix and the Texas three-step (at Houston,
Dallas and San
                 Antonio). Six of the Clippers' seven wiped-out games were
on the road. Then
                 again, the Clippers probably like playing in front of a
sellout crowd now and then
                 ... 

                 Losers

                  The fans: That's pretty obvious.

                  Knicks: New York would've opened the season against
non-playoff teams
                 Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and Sacramento among its
first eight games.
                 Against the four playoff teams in the washout period, two
-- Minnesota and New
                 Jersey -- were No. 7 or 8 seeds. On the bright side, they
miss a four-game road
                 swing to Philadelphia, Minnesota, Cleveland and Charlotte.

                  Heat: Of the seven missed games, five were against
non-playoff teams --
                 Toronto, Orlando, Sacramento and Boston (twice). And five
were at home.

                  Cavaliers: A game against the Bulls that would've been the
home opener Nov.
                 3 is wiped out. And Cav fans miss the only appearance of
the Lakers and Jazz.

                  Celtics: Yeah, they avoided playing some pretty tough
teams, but they also
                 miss the Nov. 11 home game against the Bulls. Plus, it
would've been kind of fun
                 to see Jordan teach Rick Pitino's young guns a thing or
two. They also lose
                 Shaq's only visit to Boston on Nov. 13 (raise your hand if
you really think the
                 Celtics and Lakers will meet in the playoffs).

                  Magic: They had six games scrubbed, but five were against
non-playoff teams
                 -- Dallas, Detroit, Sacramento and Toronto (twice).

                  Sixers: Lose the only Philly visit from the Lakers. Kobe
Bryant would be a big
                 draw since his dad Joe played for the Sixers.

                  Hawks: Their four lost home games were all against big
draws -- Detroit,
                 Miami, Indiana and the Lakers.

                  Pistons: They lost four straight home games from Nov. 6-13.

                  Raptors: This struggling franchise can use all the help
they can get, and they
                 lose four games against non-playoff teams -- Washington,
Orlando (twice) and
                 Philadelphia. Not all is bad -- they also miss games
against San Antonio and
                 Miami.

                  Mavericks: Five of their seven canceled games were against
teams that sat
                 home last postseason -- Orlando, Golden State, Sacramento,
Washington and the
                 Clippers.

                  Sonics: Of Seattle's seven canceled games, five were
layups (Golden State and
                 Denver twice each and the Clippers) as well as a contest
against Minnesota, a
                 team the Sonics owned a 26-game win streak against.

                  Suns: Five of the six canceled games were at America West
Arena.

                 We'll miss these games

                  Indiana at Miami, Nov. 3: Reggie Miller would've been
bombing away, Tim
                 Hardaway buggin' the Pacers with his crossover, 'Zo
scowling at Rik Smits.

                  Utah at San Antonio, Nov. 4: Stockton and Malone vs.
Duncan and the
                 Admiral. Ouch.

                  Atlanta at Charlotte, Nov. 4: This is growing into one of
the league's best
                 rivalries. Atlanta swept Charlotte during the regular
season last year, but the
                 Hornets got revenge by ousting the Hawks in the playoffs.

                  San Antonio at Phoenix, Nov. 5: This was a rematch of last
year's Western
                 Conference first-round series. The Twin Towers vs.
Smallball is always a hoot.
                 Except in early November this year.

                  Charlotte at Chicago, Nov. 7: Would've been a rematch of
the Eastern
                 Conference semifinals. Rice vs. Jordan. Mmmmmm.

                  Utah at Houston, Nov. 7: The Rockets stunned the world by
pushing the Jazz
                 to five games in the first round last season, but Clyde
Drexler is off coaching at
                 the University of Houston.

                  Seattle at Utah, Nov. 9: The Sonics and Jazz have had some
epic battles over
                 the years, so not playing this game hurts.

                  New Jersey at Chicago, Nov. 10: Hey, it was another chance
for Jordan to
                 stare down Nets coach John Calipari. And any chance to
watch Keith Van Horn
                 play and listen to Jayson Williams analyze the game is
something we'll miss.

                  New York at Charlotte, Nov. 10: Anthony Mason and Larry
Johnson
                 would've played against their respective former teams.

                  Chicago at Boston, Nov. 11: Boston's Antoine Walker
reportedly wants to
                 play for the Bulls. Well, this was a chance to play against
the Bulls.

                  Minnesota at Seattle, Nov. 12: The Sonics once beat the
T-Wolves 26
                 straight times. But Minnesota pushed the Sonics to five
games in the first round
                 of the Western Conference playoffs last season.

                  Denver at Golden State, Nov. 13: Just kidding. We're
checking to see if
                 you're paying attention.

                  Phoenix at Dallas, Nov. 14: Steve Nash never really got a
chance to run the
                 show at point guard in Phoenix. He gets the chance now with
the Mavericks.

                  L.A. Lakers at Philadelphia, Nov. 15: Kobe returns to his
hometown. His
                 dad played with the Sixers from 1975-79.