The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National

Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western conference

champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league
champion. The winners of the Finals are awarded the Larry O'Brien
Championship Trophy, which replaced the Walter A. Brown Trophy in 1983.
The series was initially known as the BAA Finals prior to the 1949–50
season when the Basketball Association of America (BAA) merged with
the National Basketball League (NBL) to form the NBA. The competition
oversaw further name changes to NBA World Championship Series from
1950 to 1985, as well as a brief stint as the Showdown, before settling on
NBA Finals in 1986.[1]
The NBA Finals was initially structured to harbor a 2–2–1–1–1 format. In
1985, it was changed to a 2–3–2 format to ease the amount of cross
country travel, where the first two and last two games of the series were
played at the arena of the team who earned home-court advantage by
having the better record during the regular season. In 2014, the 2–2–1–1–1
format was restored. The first two are played at home for the higher-
seeded team, and the following two at the home of the lower-seeded team.
The following three are played at each team's home arena alternately.[2]
A total of 18 franchises have won the NBA Finals, with the Golden State
Warriors the current champion. The Boston Celtics hold the record for the
most victories, having won the competition 17 times, as well as winning the
competition the most times in a row, winning it eight times from 1959 to
1966. The Los Angeles Lakers have contested the NBA Finals the most
times, with 31 appearances. The Eastern Conference has provided the
most champions, with 38 wins from ten franchises; the Western
Conference has 32, from nine franchises.