December 12, 1982: The Snowplow Game

December 12, 1982: The New England Patriots host the Miami Dolphins at what was then named Schaefer Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Dolphins had dominated the AFC Eastern Division since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970, although the Patriots had had their moments. This game would feature another.

The weather heavily favored the Pats. It rained before the game, soaking the AstroTurf. Then, on the day of the game, a cold snap came, freezing the water on the field. Finally, it snowed on the morning of the game, and it kept snowing during the game.

The Patriots had occasionally played in Winter weather, but, this far in their history, nothing like this. The Dolphins, used to playing in the warmth of South Florida, were totally unsuited to this.

An emergency ground rule was put into play, where the officials could call time-out and allow the ground crew to use a snowplow to clear the yard markers. Despite this rule, the ground crew could not plow often enough to keep the field clear. With today's weather forecasting and NFL scheduling policy, a decision would have been made ahead of time to postpone it to Monday night.

Neither team's players could get a good footing on the field, and the game remained scoreless, late in the 4th quarter. With 4:45 left in regulation, Patriots coach Ron Meyer wanted to kick a field goal. He later told the media that it was quarterback Steve Grogan who suggested asking for the snowplow to clear the ground for the kick. (Grogan only attempted 5 passes all game long, completing 2, for 13 yards.)

It wasn't actually a snow plow: It was a small John Deere tractor with a shovel attached to it. The driver was Mark Henderson, a convicted burglar out of prison on a work-release program. He knew why he was there, and that it was within the rules. He told the media that his reaction was, "What are they going to do, throw me in jail?"

A path was clear for John Smith, the left-footed kicker from Oxfordshire, England, to attempt a 33-yard go-ahead field goal. It was good.

Dolphin coach Don Shula was furious: “I wanted to go out there and punch him out,” Shula told The Boston Globe, meaning Henderson. “In retrospect, I should have laid down in front of the snowplow.” And he told the Los Angeles Times, “I think it’s the most unfair thing I’ve ever been associated with in coaching. It’s the most unsportsmanlike act that I’ve ever been around.”

It wasn't. Late in the game, when the Dolphins could have tried a game-winning field goa, they were also offered the use of the snowplow by the head referee. Shula refused. The Patriots held on to win, 3-0. It became instantly known as The Snowplow Game, and it remains the most famous touchdown-less game in NFL history.

With the history of the Patriots having changed considerably in the intervening 40 years, with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady leading them to victory with proven accusations of cheating, it is easy to say that the Patriots' cheating goes back to The Snowplow Game. In fact, the rule, agreed upon by both organizations before the game, meant that Henderson's actions, and Meyer's request thereof, were legal at the time.

But the Patriots' organization was wary: Shula, already one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, was on the NFL's Competition Committee, and there was concern that he might lead Commissioner Pete Rozelle to overturn the result. It didn't happen: No NFL result has ever been overturned in the League's 100+-year history. But Shula did get the rule changed for the next season, so such a thing could never happen again.

"Mark Henderson" is a common name, common enough that, when the Patriots wanted to invite the plow driver to the final regular-season game at Schaefer Stadium, which became Sullivan Stadium in 1983 and Foxboro Stadium in 1989, to be held on December 22, 2001, they discovered, incorrectly, that he was dead. It was another Mark Henderson who lived in New England and had a criminal record. When they kept digging and found the right one, they brought him onto the field -- by then, real grass -- and he received a standing ovation.

Mark Henderson, 2007, on the 25th Anniversary

Looking him up for this post, I found the same problem: Multiple Mark Hendersons who had passed away, including 2 in 2022. All I can say for sure about Mark Henderson the plow driver is that he lived long enough to give an interview to The Boston Globe in 2010, had a son also named Mark, and that the son confirmed that the father had never been in legal trouble again after his release.

What I can confirm is that the John Deere tractor was preserved, and now sits in the New England Patriots Hall of Fame, a museum at the north end of Gillette Stadium, which was built next-door to the old stadium in Foxborough.

*

December 12, 1982 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Jets beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 32-17 at Shea Stadium.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints, 35-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 13-0 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 23-10 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers, 30-10 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Baltimore Colts, 13-10 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Washington Redskins beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-7 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 21-16 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Los Angeles Rams, 27-24 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Chicago Bears, 20-14 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The day before, the New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-7 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* Also the day before, the San Diego Chargers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 41-37 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Houston Oilers, 37-7 at the Astrodome in Houston.

Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Denver Broncos, 126-112 at the Boston Garden. Larry Bird scored 36 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers, 120-108 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns, 99-94 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

And there were 6 NHL games that day:

* The New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-0 at Madison Square Garden. It would be years before the neighbors would be on the same level, enough to make it a real rivalry.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat their in-State rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 7-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Quebec Nordiques, 7-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

October 20, 1996: The 1st MLS Cup

October 20, 1996: The 1st Major League Soccer season comes to a climax with the 1st MLS Cup Final, held on neutral ground at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts, home of the NFL's New England Patriots and MLS' New England Revolution.

MLS was then divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. The Tampa Bay Mutiny ran away with the East, with D.C. United, the league's Washington team, 12 points back. But in the 1st round of the Playoffs, DCU beat the New York Tri-State Area's team, the NY/NJ MetroStars in a shootout.

This started a rivalry known as the Atlantic Cup. Despite Metro's 2005 rebranding as the New York Red Bulls, the chance to jump on the traditional New York vs. New England rivalry from the outset, and the establishments of the Philadelphia Union and New York City F.C., DCU remain the team that Metro/Red Bull fans most want to beat: "The D.C. Scum."

DCU went on to eliminate the Mutiny in the Conference Final. In the West, the Los Angeles Galaxy won by 8 points over the Dallas Burn, and then, in the Playoffs, beat the San Jose Clash and the Kansas City Wiz to make the Final. (Respectively, those teams are now named F.C. Dallas, the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City.)

Boston and Washington had never previously played in a major league sports final. Due to the NBA and the NHL being split into geographic conferences, it hasn't been possible in those leagues.

It had been possible in Major League Baseball only from 1903, when the World Series began, until 1952, when the Boston Braves moved, and could no longer play the Washington Senators in the World Series. It became possible again with the 2005 arrival of the Washington Nationals, but they have never played the Boston Red Sox in a World Series.

It was, and remains, possible for the Patriots to play the Washington Football Team (who actually started out in Boston, from 1932 to 1936) in the Super Bowl, but it hasn't happened.

Foxboro Stadium, replaced by Gillette Stadium in 2002, seated 61,000, but the stadium operators were surprised that over 40,000 tickets were sold, so they had to open the upper deck. But Hurricane Lili swept through the Northeast, postponing Game 1 of the World Series in New York the night before. A tarp wasn't enough, as the natural grass field got soaked. A postponement was considered, but rejected. Out of 42,368 people who bought tickets, 34,643 showed up, including 7,000 DCU fans who made the trip north.

Dan Calichman, a defender from Huntington, Long Island, New York, who was ordinarily the Galaxy's Captain, had to sit the match out, suspended 1 game due to yellow card accumulation. So another defender, Miami native Robin Fraser, wore the armband on this occasion.

Their lineup also included Mexican goalkeeper Jorge Campos, Ecuadoran forward Eduardo Hurtado, U.S. national team stars Cobi Jones and Chris Armas, and, oddly for an American team, a player from Iran, defender Arah Noamouz. Their manager was German, Lothar Osiander.

DC was managed by Bruce Arena, who had built the great soccer program at the University of Virginia, and would go on to become MLS' greatest manager, winning 5 Cups -- 2 with D.C., 3 with L.A. His Captain was midfielder John Harkes, a native of one of the places that could legitimately be called Soccertown, U.S.A.: Kearny, Hudson County, New Jersey.

Also in the lineup: Mark Simpson, who, oddly for a goalkeeper, wore Number 2; American defenders Eddie Pope and Jeff Agoos; a pair of Bolivians, midfielder Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno; and forward Raúl Díaz Arce, who would go on to become the El Salvador national team's all-time leading scorer.

ABC broadcast the match. In only the 5th minute, Hurtado scored on a header to put L.A. ahead. He celebrated by doing a belly-flop on the soaked grass. It remained 1-0 to L.A. through halftime. In the 56th minute, Armas made it 2-0 to L.A.

With rain coming down and the wind getting worse, it was beginning to look like the Galaxy had the game in the bag. Arena rolled the dice, bringing on American midfielders Tony Sanneh and Shawn Medved as substitutes. It worked: Sanneh headed in an Etcheverry free kick in the 73rd.

In the 78th, Jones tried to put it away for the Galaxy, but hit the crossbar. In the 81st, United were awarded another free kick. Etcheverry took it, and Campos was able to punch it away. But Medved scored on the rebound, and the game was tied.

According to league rules at the time, overtime would be sudden death. The 1st team to score would have a "Golden Goal," and be Champions. In the 94th minute, Etcheverry took a corner, and Pope scored it. D.C. United had won, 3-2. Etcheverry, who assisted on all 3 goals, was named Man of the Match.

D.C. United would win 3 of the 1st 4 MLS Cups, and 4 of the 1st 9. L.A. wouldn't win their 1st until 2002, but have now won 5, and remain the league's leader in titles. Here are the Final records of all MLS teams to have played in the Final:

Los Angeles Galaxy, 5-4

D.C. United, 4-1

Seattle Sounders, 2-2

Houston Dynamo, 2-2

Columbus Crew, 2-1

Sporting Kansas City, 2-1

San Jose Earthquakes, 2-0

Toronto F.C., 1-2

Chicago Fire, 1-2

Portland Timbers, 1-2

Real Salt Lake, 1-1

Colorado Rapids, 1-1

Atlanta United, 1-0

New York City FC, 1-0

F.C. Dallas, 0-1

New York Red Bulls, 0-1

New England Revolution, 0-5

Of the 10 charter MLS teams from 1996, the Tampa Bay Mutiny folded without reaching a Final; among the other 9, only the MetroStars/Red Bulls have failed to win at least 1 Cup.

*

October 20, 1996 was a Sunday. MLS probably shouldn't have scheduled its 1st Final on an NFL gameday, especially since Game 2 of the World Series was also supposed to be played. But the only other real options were the day before, a college football gameday when Game 1 of the World Series was supposed to be played, or wait a week, when it would still conflict with football, either college or pro, and still might conflict with the World Series, either Game 6 or Game 7. Or wait another week, and still conflict with football?

At any rate, because Game 1 of the World Series was delayed by rain, it was played at the same time as the MLS Cup. The defending World Champions, the Atlanta Braves, pounded the New York Yankees, 12-1 at Yankee Stadium. Andy Pettitte was chased by 2 runs in the 2nd inning and 6 runs in the 3rd. Andruw Jones hit 2 home runs, his 1st making him the youngest home run hitter in Series history. John Smoltz was the beneficiary pitcher. The Braves also took Game 2, but the Yankees won the next 4 straight.

These were the NFL games played that day: 

* The New York Giants lost to the Washington Redskins, 31-21 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. This was the 'Skins last season of 36 at RFK, before moving to a new stadium in the Maryland suburbs; and DCU's 1st season of 22 there, before moving to Audi Field in 2018.

* The New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills, 25-22 at Giants Stadium. This was the Jets' 1-15 year under head coach Rich Kotite.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Miami Dolphins, 35-28 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the New Orleans Saints, 19-7 at Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte. (It's now Bank of America Stadium.)

* The New England Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts, 27-9 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. The Pats being on the road made Foxboro Stadium available.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 17-14 at the Trans World Dome in St. Louis. (It's now The Dome at America's Center.)

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Atlanta Falcons, 32-28 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-13 at the Astrodome. The Oilers would play out this season in Houston, and then move to Tennessee the next year.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Baltimore Ravens, 45-34 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 13-9 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 28-21 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Oakland Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers, 23-14 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* And the Chicago Bears, the Dallas Cowboys, the Detroit Lions, the Green Bay Packers, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks had a bye.

The NBA Season didn't start until November 1. But there were 6 NHL games played on this day:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-2 at the Ice Palace in Tampa. This was the 1st regular-season game at the building, now named the Benchmark International Arena.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the Kiel Center in St. Louis. (It's now the Enterprise Center.)

* The Florida Panthers and the Phoenix Coyotes played to a tie, 1-1 at the AmericaWest Arena in Phoenix.

* In a Battle of Alberta, the Calgary Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Boston Bruins beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 5-1 at the Arrowhead Pond in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California.

January 19, 2002: The Tuck Rule Game

January 19, 2002: The New England Patriots play their last game at their old Foxboro Stadium, in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. It is also the game that establishes a dynasty that, 20 years later, is, more or less, still running.

Schaefer/Sullivan/Foxboro Stadium

With what would be named Gillette Stadium rising next-door, the Patriots hosted the Oakland Raiders in an AFC Divisional Playoff. These teams were both charter franchises in the American Football League, and there were priors:

* December 18, 1976: The Patriots thought they were headed for the Super Bowl, but a last-minute roughing the passer penalty by referee Ben Dreith against Ray Hamilton gave the Raiders new life. They capitalized, and went on to win the Super Bowl.

* August 12, 1978: Raider safety Jack Tatum clobbered Patriot receiver Darryl Stingley, paralyzing him from the neck down. In an exhibition game.

* January 5, 1986: The teams met in the postseason for the 1st time since the Ben Dreith Game. The Patriots won. Afterward, Patrick Sullivan, son of Patriots owner Billy, got into a shouting match with Raider linebacker Matt Millen, who was angry at Sullivan heckling defensive end Howie Long. Millen threw the first punch, but Sullivan held his own. He told a reporter after the game, "We're just getting back for Jack Tatum, and all the crap that their football team has put on our football team over the years."

With 16 years come and gone, and the Patriots having changed ownership twice in the interim, those moments shouldn't have mattered. And maybe they didn't to Patriots owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick, and quarterback Tom Brady; or to their respective counterparts on the Raiders: Al Davis, Jon Gruden and Rich Gannon. But then, Al Davis was always going to be Al Davis, so who knew?

The Patriots were 11-5, and Champions of the AFC Eastern Division. The Raiders were 10-6, and had won the AFC Western Division. The Patriots had a 1st Round bye, while the Raiders had beaten the New York Jets. Neither team had an appreciable edge on experience. Cliché Alert: Home-field advantage is usually said to be worth 3 points, and the Las Vegas oddsmakers had made the Patriots 3-point favorites.

The game started at 8:05 PM Eastern Time, and it was 25 degrees with snow falling. Understandable weather for New England in January, unusual for Oakland anytime. (The Oakland Coliseum has been considered a cold place to play, but they've never had snow during a game, either baseball or football.) Also understandable, given the weather, there was no scoring in the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, Gannon threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to James Jett, and the Raiders led 7-0 at the half. So, if the weather was affecting them, it wasn't much.

Adam Vinatieri got the Pats on the board with a 23-yard field goal. But Sebastian Janikowski kicked 2 for the Raiders, from 38 and 45 yards out. After 3 quarters, the Raiders led, 13-3. They still held that lead with 8 minutes left in regulation. The Raiders hadn't been to the Super Bowl in 18 years, but it looked like they were going.

With 7:52 left, Brady scored on a 6-yard run, to make it 13-10. With 2:19 left, the Raiders had to punt. The Patriots got the ball back on their own 46-yard line. Brady threw to Kevin Faulk for 7 yards. Then he ran for 5 yards and a 1st down. With 1:50 on the clock, and the ball on the Raider 42, the Raiders needed at least 10 more yards for a game-tying field goal. Then came the play that changed the history of the National Football League.

Brady dropped back to pass, but didn't see any open receivers. He pumped the ball, but the ball did not leave his hand. Then he was hit on his right by Charles Woodson, a fellow University of Michigan graduate. And at this point, the ball did leave Brady's hand, and fell to the ground. Raider linebacker Greg Biekert recovered. Raider ball.

Except referee Walt Coleman wasn't sure if it was a fumble or an incomplete pass. So he ruled it a fumble. A a call of "Fumble" would trigger an automatic instant replay review; while a call of "Incomplete pass" could not be reviewed. Whether that's fair or not, that was the rule of the time.

In 1999, the NFL instituted Rule 3, Section 22, Article 2, Note 2: "When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble."

If he was still moving the ball inward, to "tuck" the ball into his body when he lost possession, then this "Tuck Rule" would make the play in question an incomplete pass.

Beyond any question, Brady's arm had moved forward. Beyond any question, that movement stopped. If there was an attempt to pass, it had concluded. He then lost the ball.

In order to overturn a ruling, the replay must show that the ruling on the field was obviously wrong. The replay showed that the ruling on the field, a fumble, was absolutely correct. Therefore, the call should have stood, and the Raiders should have been given a 1st & 10, with good field position.

Instead, the ruling on the field was overturned: Incomplete pass. The Patriots kept the ball: 2nd & 10, on the Raider 42, with 1:47 to go.

Brady threw to David Patten for 13 yards and a 1st down. He threw passes intended for Troy Brown and Jermaine Williams, both falling incomplete. He ran up the middle for 1 yard. Belichick sent Adam Vinatieri in to kick a field goal. From 45 yards out. On natural grass. On frozen natural grass. In a snowstorm. With a little bit of wind. But the kick was good, and the game went to overtime.

The Patriots won the toss, and got the ball to start the overtime. They converted a 4th & 4 play, rather than attempt a game-winning 48-yard field goal into the wind. They got close enough for Vinatieri to try a 23-yard field goal with 6:35 left in the 1st overtime. It was good, and the Patriots had won, 16-13.

Under today's overtime rules, the team getting the ball first only kicking a field goal would not have ended the game. The Raiders would still have gotten the ball, with the chance to tie with a field goal or win with a touchdown. (This rule is designed to avoid long field goals giving a team a cheap overtime win, just because they won the coin toss. Had today's rules been in place then, and the Patriots scored a touchdown, the game would have been over immediately, and the Raiders would not have gotten a chance.)

The Patriots then beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, and upset the St. Louis Rams to win Super Bowl XXXVI at the Superdome in New Orleans. It was the 1st of 9 Super Bowls that coach Belichick and quarterback Brady got to together, winning 6 of them.

Before this game, the Patriots had played 32 seasons, made the Playoffs 11 times, won 6 Division titles, reached 2 AFC Championship Games, and won both of them, but hadn't won a Super Bowl.

In the 22 seasons since, they've made the Playoffs 18 times, won 17 Division titles, reached 13 AFC Championship Games, won 9 of them, and won 6 Super Bowls.

Raiders owner Al Davis was enraged, to the point that he fired coach Gruden for not protesting the call enough. He replaced Gruden with Bill Callahan, and he led the Raiders to the AFC title the next season, reaching Super Bowl XXXVII, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- who had hired Gruden as their head coach. The Raiders haven't been back to the Super Bowl since then, and neither Davis' death and replacement as operating owner by his son Mark in 2011 nor their move to Las Vegas in 2020 has affected this.

In 2013, the Tuck Rule was abolished, by a vote of 29-1. The Patriots abstained from the vote, as did the team then known as the Washington Redskins. The only team to vote to keep it was, with a small amount of irony, the next team the Raiders beat after the game in question, the Steelers.

One more thing: Given the shady incidents in their history, and not just against the Patriots -- the 1978 "Holy Roller" play against the San Diego Chargers comes to mind -- the Raiders and their fans were on shaky ground saying that the Patriots had won unfairly. Right message? Maybe. But wrong messengers.

Still... There has never been a serious accusation of an NFL referee being paid to throw a game from one team to another. Doing it through incompetence, yes; through corruption, no. But if it turned out that the officials made the incorrect call on the replay because the Patriots paid them to, would anybody be surprised? 

Think of it this way: We have more proven instances of Belichick and/or Brady cheating, and the other benefiting from that cheating, than we have proven instances of them not cheating. So which is more likely: That these were the only times they cheated, or that they cheated in many more games?

In 2019, a poll ranked this game 15th on a list of the 100 Greatest Games of the NFL's 1st 100 years.

*

January 19, 2002 was a Saturday. In the other NFL Playoff game that day, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Bears, 33-19. It was the last game at the old Soldier Field in Chicago, before it was demolished and replaced with the new stadium known as The Eyesore On Lake Shore.

There were 13 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 97-89 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Houston Rockets, 99-90 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Charlotte Hornets, 91-89 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 116-107 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers, 100-88 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 119-103 at the Great American Pyramid in Memphis.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz, 106-103 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 98-81 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics, 94-91 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls, 77-69 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors, 105-102 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 113-93 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Denver Nuggets, 104-77 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

And there were 13 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils and the Carolina Hurricanes played to a tie, 3-3 at the Meadowlands.

* The New York Islanders beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. (The New York Rangers were not scheduled.)

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals, 5-1 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Atlanta Flames beat the Florida Panthers, 6-1 at the National Car Rental Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-1 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1 at the Savvis Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. Keith Tkachuk scored the winner with 1:31 left in overtime.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 2-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Edmonton Oilers, 1-0 at the Skyreach Centre (as the Northlands Coliseum was temporarily known) in Edmonton.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 3-1 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-1 at the Compaq Center (now the SAP Center) in San Jose.