Long layoffs before NBA finals
The Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks will meet in the 2024 NBA Finals. There are plenty of storylines from Kyrie Irving to Kristaps Porzingis and more. One storyline to monitor is teams with over a weeks rest before the finals.
The longest gap between the conference finals and NBA Finals came in 1982. The Los Angeles Lakers sat around for 12 days before beginning their series against Philadelphia and won in six games.
Teams with at least a one-week gap before Game 1 of the NBA Finals are 16-11 in the series. 59% of the teams with a week off or more win the championship. Dallas closed out Minnesota in five games and will have 6 days off before meeting Boston in Game 1. The Celtics will have had 9 days of rest.
Teams with a week of rest before NBA Finals last 10 years
2023 Denver had 9 days off and defeated Miami
2022 Warriors had 7 days off while Boston had 4 days rest
2021 Bucks won the championship on 3 days rest. The Suns had 6 days and lost.
2020 Lakers defeated Miami in the Bubble won with both teams having 3 days to get ready
2019 Warriors had 10 days off and lost to Toronto
2018 Warriors 2 days off Cavs 3 days off
2017 Warriors had 10 days offf, Cavs 6 days Warriors in 5
2016 Cleveland had 5 days off while the Warriors had 3
2015 Warriors had 6 days off and beat the Cav’s
2014 Spurs had less than a week vs heat
2013 Spurs had 9 days off and lost to Miami in 7 games
Teams with a week off or more are 3-2 over last 10 years
The outliers here are the 2019 Toronto Raptors with Kawhi Leonard who had a legendary run. The other was the 2013 Heat led by Lebron James who was on a mission. The 2024 Mavericks have an opportunity led by Luka Doncic.
We have another week to look for different angles in this matchup. But teams with more rest win almost 60% of the time.
