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Sources identified Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers as the teams pushing hardest behind the scenes for a deal in principle by the end of the weekend to ensure that a "representative" season can be staged.
And at least three teams that requested anonymity, according to interviews conducted Wednesday by ESPN.com, are highly optimistic that the framework of a deal can be struck by Monday.
But one source close to talks, referring to those aforementioned collapses when a deal seemed imminent at various points during the past two months, said Wednesday night: "Are the parties talking again? Yes. Have they done anything [significant]? No."
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