Notebook | David Stern pins series format on Red Auerbach

BOSTON — Any Celtics fans complaining about the 2-3-2 NBA Finals format should keep something in mind: Red Auerbach had a role in its implementation.

David Stern revealed that Sunday night during his annual finals news conference, recalling a conversation he had with the Celtics patriarch early in his tenure as commissioner.

"Although he's not here to defend himself and deny it, I tell you that Red said to me back in '84, 'This is too much. Play, travel, play, travel, play, travel,'" Stern said. "In subsequent years he said it was terrible that we changed it to 2-3-2, but a young commissioner was motivated by the father of us all."

Stern said the league would look into everything from penalties for flopping to the 9 p.m. EDT start times for the finals, but had little news to offer following what he called one of the league's "best seasons in years."

He added that the league should do some research on the finals format, but cited a statistic showing the higher-seeded team has won 75 percent of the finals series since the switch.

Responding to concerns the NBA Finals start too late on television to groom a younger generation of fans, Stern said "nothing is set in stone" regarding earlier tipoffs.

"We wrestle with it because if the idea is to let the largest audience see the game — including youngsters — there's no doubt that at 11:30 Eastern, that's when the largest audience is gathered," he said before Game 2.

"It wouldn't be a terrible thing to have a Sunday night game at 7 o'clock, but our network partners tell us that your ratings will be lower ... and why would you want to have a lower audience count? So that's the dilemma we face."

Notes

• Another injury for the Celtics, this one to their mascot, Lucky the dunking leprechaun. Damon Blust, high-flying mascot who entertains the crowd during breaks, had to cut the trampoline-enhanced dunks from his routine because he had a labral tear to his right shoulder.

• Dwyane Wade still believes his knee will be ready for the Beijing Olympics. The Miami Heat guard, who missed the final 21 games of last season because of chronic soreness in his surgically repaired left knee, said Sunday that he has been playing 5-on-5 games for about a week with "no problems."