NBA owners alter Finals format to 2-2-1-1-1

NBA owners voted unanimously Wednesday to change the Finals format to 2-2-1-1-1 after nearly 30 years of a 2-3-2 format. The change will take place effective for the 2014 Finals.

Commissioner David Stern called it an "easy sell" to owners to help add competitive balance and align the Finals schedule with the rest of the playoffs. To ease the transition, an extra day off will be added between Games 6 and 7.

"There's been a sense among our teams that in a 2-2 series, it's not fair for a team with the better record to be away [for Game 5]," Stern said after the league's board of governors annual preseason meeting. "It's not fair for the better team in terms of record to spend as many as eight days away from home."