MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS
If LeBron James and the Miami Heat find themselves back in the NBA Finals, the new format will allow for more time off between Games 6 and 7.
The NBA Finals format will return to the old days, using a 2-2-1-1-1 format starting this coming June and putting an end to a Red Auerbach-inspired rules change.
The change from the 2-3-2 format was recommended last month by the nine-member competition committee of coaches, GM’s and owners, and was unanimously approved Wednesday by the full group of owners at this week’s Board of Governors meeting.
The 2-2-1-1-1 system was used through the 1984 Finals. But Auerbach, tired of making the coast-to-coast trips that came when his Celtics played the Lakers in the Finals, used his unparalleled powers to convince David Stern to change the scheduling to a 2-3-2 format to cut down on travel. That was the kind of clout that Auerbach wielded until his death in 2006.
“Red didn’t like all the travel, but it’s a whole new world now, with all of our teams flying charter,” Stern said. “So it makes sense. Back then, travel was a bigger deal because everyone flew commercial. I tried to tell some of our owners that they should charter. But I never told Red to charter.”
Why not?
“Because I was scared of him,” Stern said, perhaps only half-jokingly.
The league announced that there will now be two days off between Games 6 and 7, as opposed to just one day off.
In recent seasons, there has been a groundswell to go back to the original format. Incoming commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that there was a perception that the team that came into the Finals with the better record was at a disadvantage if the series was tied 2-2 because it had to then play the pivotal Game 5 on the road.
“There’s a sense that it skewed the competition, but that has not been backed up by the data,” said Silver, who will succeed Stern in February. “Now, this moves Game 5 back to the team with the better record.”
There were also concerns about the underdog being at a distinct disadvantage if it fell behind 0-2, in that it proved to be extremely difficult for that team to win three straight home games. In fact, that was done only three times, by Detroit in 2004, Miami in 2006 and the Heat again in 2012. Plus, in the 2-3-2 set-up, the underdog would sometimes be faced with having to win both Games 6 and 7 on the road, when the old system gave that team Game 6 on its homecourt.
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