NBA Finals format changed

Published January 13, 2015

The NBA Board of Governors voted unanimously Wednesday to change the Finals format to 2-2-1-1-1 after nearly 30 years of the 2-3-2 setup.

The changes will be effective for the 2014 Finals.

An extra off day will be added between Games 6 and 7.

"The Competition Committee felt strongly that a consistent format should be used for each round of our playoffs," President of Basketball Operations Rod Thorn said. "With improvements in team air travel and technology, the reasons the 2-3-2 format made sense for us in the past largely do not exist anymore, so creating consistency became the priority."

The NBA began the 2-3-2 format in 1985 to better serve teams dealing with commercial travel. Cross-country rivals Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers met in the 1984 NBA Finals before the changes were made for the 2-3-2 format in the 1985 Finals, which saw a rematch between the Celtics and Lakers.

The home team won the middle three games only three times.

The NBA previously used the 2-2-1-1-1 format from 1957-1984 -- except 1978.

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