As we head into the meat of the 2009 NBA Finals, today's trivia topic revolves around the Finals' 2-3-2 format. First adopted by the NBA for the 1985 playoffs, the format has been the way of life for the league's championship series ever since.
Love it? Hate it?
Well, Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic - down 0-2 to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers - better embrace the opportunity to get back in this series with potentially three games in a row at home.
I took a look at the archives and came up with some interesting discoveries about previous Finals teams tabbed to play the "middle three" games at home:
- Since 1985, only two of those teams swept their three consecutive home games and went on to win the NBA title ('03-04 Pistons and '05-06 Heat).
- Since 1985, only three "3-4-5" home teams won the NBA title despite losing one of their three home games ('84-85 Lakers, '92-93 Bulls and '97-98 Bulls).
It's a tall order for Orlando but there's no better time than now to get on a hot streak.
Above image: Anfernee Hardaway soars on a sweet Basketball Digest cover in 1995. Penny and the Magic wouldn't have minded at least one more home game vs. Houston in the Finals that year. The Rockets won games 1 and 2 in Orlando and needed only two of their three allotted home games to win it all.
