The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved a change on Wednesday that would return the NBA Finals series to a 2-2-1-1-1 format.
The adjustment, which will be made immediately for the 2013-14 season, creates a playoff system that is exactly like the NHL’s, where all four rounds use a 2-2-1-1-1 set up.
This format was used until the 1985 NBA Finals when a 2-3-2 format was implemented. The change to the 2-3-2 format was made primarily for travel reasons, both for the players and television networks. However, it did force the team with the home-court advantage to play three consecutive road games, which makes no sense.
NBA commissioner David Stern talked about the vote on Wednesday.
[tweet https://twitter.com/SpearsNBAYahoo/statuses/393074136471179264 align=’center’]
In the 29 NBA Finals series using the 2-3-2 format, the team with home court had an overall series record of 21-8. The 2-2-1-1-1 format should create more compelling series because the chances of a deciding Game 7 being needed are greater based on the back-and-forth of home court over the final three games. In the 2-3-2 format, there were only four NBA Finals that went the full seven games, compared to 13 Game 7 series in the 38 years between 1946-47 and 1983-84 when the 2-2-1-1-1 set up was used.
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