Gm. 1: Thursday, June 5 (8:30 p.m. ET) - LAL at BOS Gm. 2: Sunday, June 8 (8:30 p.m. ET) - LAL at BOS Gm. 3: Tuesday, June 10 (8:30 p.m. ET) - BOS at LAL Gm. 4: Thursday, June 12 (8:30 p.m. ET) - BOS at LAL Gm. 5: *Sunday, June 15 (8:30 p.m. ET) - BOS at LAL Gm. 6: *Tuesday, June 17 (8:30 p.m. ET) - LAL at BOS Gm. 7: *Thursday, June 19 (8:30 p.m. ET) - LAL at BOS In my opinion, this schedule makes it more difficult for the Lakers to win it. To win 3 home games in a row is tough, the Celtics will catch at least one of them for sure. I've heard that this schedule favors the underdog(Lakers b/c they don't have homecourt), but I am clueless as to how it could favor it could favor the Lakers. What are you opinions about the finals schedule? If you were for the Lakers, which schedule would you prefer?
you don't think this is the first time the schedule of the finals is like this, do you? just in case.
ironically it was the celtics/lakers finals rivalry in the 80's that was the reason why the NBA switched to a 2-3-2 format in the finals cross country flying on the last 3 games were a pain in the butt
Maybe a better question would be: Which schedule do you prefer for the NBA Finals: The 2-3-2 or the 2-2-1-1-1. I think it should be the 2-2-1-1-1 just like every other round, and if you polled the players on both teams, they would agree.
I think this favors the Lakers actually. This is how Detroit beat LA in 2004. Detroit stole one in LA and then won their 3 games at home to win the championship. LA never had a chance to play those last 2 games at home.
Nope, I think for the finals is better the 2-3-2 format, because of the long hours traveling, especially a series like this, which they on the 2 sides of the US, just like v3.0 said it:
I think that was the only time in history the lower seeded finalist won all 3 consecutive games at home. Before that happened, most pundits said playing 3 home games in a row made it very difficult for the home team to win all 3. As far as which is better, the only time 2-3-2 can be considered better is when both teams are on opposite coasts, which has only happened once in the last 20 years if you count the Lakers vs Nets (twice if you count Lakers vs Sixers). During the Pistons, Bulls, Rockets and Spurs final appearances, 2-3-2 was completely unnecessary. Different strokes for different folks. I don't like the format switch just for the Finals.
first time, actually. miami was the second time, iirc. i don't think it really makes a difference compared to the other format. h-c advantage is an over-analyzed thing sometimes.
on the one hand, it's weird for the higher seed to have played more road games than home games at any point in the series (after game 5). on the other, it's hard to close out a series in 5 and thus the lower seeded team is very likely going to have to close it out on the road, instead of the convenient game 6 home game like in all other series. in the end it's probably a wash. just because i'm used to it, i'd rather see 2-2-1-1-1, especially b/c i don't think the flying is that bad with the occasional 2 days off thrown in.
i agree. since both teams are already getting atleast 6 days of rest before game 1 starts, flight hours shouldnt effect them as much. and since its the finals (last series of the basketball season) they might as well throw in 3 days rest to separate each game to let the anticipation build up and to make sure the players are well rested and play their best for each game so the players would be able to adjust to the 2-2-1-1-1 in the finals instead of 2-3-2. that gives the underdog a major disadvantage b/c the home team can start the series off with a 3-0 lead.
THe games are 9:00 ET pm and not 8:30 ET. For the Lakers the finals s schedule is better because if they win one in Boston, then their chance of winning the series are bigger.
sorry didn't notice the times were incorrect. i copied the schedule straight off of the website: http://www.nba.com/finals2008/series/index.html. in my opinion, if the lakers win their first 2 home game, then the thought of being tired of losing will get into their minds and try to play their hardest through game 5.
