for the first time since , a new scheduling format was instituted for the finals. in previous years, the finals were played in a thursday–sunday–tuesday scheme. however, the league changed its scheduling to ensure an extra day off for both teams, which have to travel from one city to another during the series. this, along with the designated travel day, took place after games 2, 4, 5, and 6. coincidentally, the national hockey league adopted this similar practice during that year's stanley cup finals; however the nba chose to schedule an extra day off between games 1 and 2 so as to avoid competing with game 3 of the stanley cup finals (which normally takes place on the first saturday of june).