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Lockout ending tomorrow?

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NBA owners and players called it an early night Thursday, with both pointing toward Friday as a decisive day for big moves to end the 119-day lockout. The sides again said there was some minor progress on the system issues after about 7½ hours of talks. They decided to wrap it up and get some rest following a marathon 15-hour session Wednesday, and with union economist Kevin Murphy unavailable Thursday to discuss finances. Hunter said he thought the sides were "within striking distance of a getting a deal" on the system, but there's still no indication either side is ready to make the big move necessary to settling the BRI split. From ESPN The flag here, of course, is that the progress made this week has not included addressing the BRI at all, which is what railroaded all previous talks. But the fact both Stern and Hunter seem optimistic is a good sign