1.   And the Flyers had a chance to avenge two home losses to a team they had swept out of the playoffs last season.

2.   As it stands, wild-card Oakland will play the Yankees in a rematch of their first-round playoff last season.

3.   As a team, the Stars missed the playoffs last season.

4.   Before Saturday, the Bulls had not lost a road game through the playoffs this season after bludgeoning the Nets in the Meadowlands and the Hornets in the Hive.

5.   Before the playoffs last season, the team was viewed as too old, too brittle, too thin in talent.

6.   A shoulder injury had rendered Leetch somewhat ineffective during the playoffs last season, when the Rangers were eliminated in the second round for the second consecutive year.

7.   Both teams did not qualify for the playoffs this season.

8.   Bucks make the playoffs next season?

9.   But seven games is a difficult undertaking, especially for a rebuilding team that did not make the playoffs last season.

10.   But this is no normal December for the Cowboys, who have virtually no shot at making the playoffs this season.