Seven-day shared layoff before NBA Finals will set record

ByMARC STEIN
May 28, 2015, 12:09 AM

— -- OAKLAND, Calif. -- With their 104-90 Game 5 victory over the Houston Rockets, the Golden State Warriors clinched the longest shared layoff leading up to the NBA Finals in league history.

There will be a full seven days off between Wednesday night's Western Conference finals finale and the scheduled June 4 start of the NBA Finals.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Golden State and  Cleveland will 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 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 will go at least one full week without a game.