On the night before the N.B.A. was to begin canceling games, league and union officials gathered one more time Sunday night, but once again parted without an agreement, or any overt signs of progress.

The hastily called meeting began at 6:30 p.m. in Manhattan and ended just before midnight. The only news either side would share was that they will continue meeting Monday afternoon. Presumably, Commissioner David Stern will wait until after that meeting to decide whether to cancel the first two weeks of the regular season, as he had indicated he would do.

A person briefed on Sunday’s talks said the parties did not discuss the most contentious issue, the division of league revenues. Instead, the focus was on so-called system issues, such as the salary cap, the luxury tax and the length of contracts.

Neither Stern nor Derek Fisher, the union president, would comment on the substance of the talks, and it was unclear whether Stern still planned to cancel games Monday.