Pre-Finals break to set record if Warriors clinch
OAKLAND, Calif. — If the Golden State Warriors can close out the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, they will clinch the longest shared layoff leading up to the NBA Finals in league history.
There will be a full seven days off if the Warriors can indeed eliminate the Rockets on their home floor Wednesday night, with the NBA Finals scheduled to start June 4.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, that would set up Golden State and Cleveland to exceed the longest shared layoff in league history between the conference finals and the championship round by two days.
The previous longest layoff leading up to the Finals, witnessed in both 2003 and 2008, was at least five days off for each conference champion.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will go eight days without a game by virtue of completing their sweep of the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night. The San Antonio Spurs had an even longer layoff in 2013, when they went nine days without a game after winning the West. But this marks the first time both Finals contestants could go at least one full week without a game.
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