<P> Prior to the 1949--50 season, the series was named the BAA Finals, before seeing alteration following the merger between the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) which created the modern NBA . The competition oversaw further name changes to NBA World Championship Series from 1950 to 1982, as well as a brief stint as the Showdown, before settling on NBA Finals in 1986 . </P> <P> 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 until 2013, 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 . </P> <P> A total of 19 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 . </P> <P> The Boston Celtics went 11--1 in the NBA Finals during 13 seasons (1956--57 to 1968--69). They won eight straight NBA championships from 1959 through 1966 . This period marks the largest stretch of seasons that a single team made up over 65% of Finals appearances, and also includes the only ever time the NBA Finals was decided in double overtime . </P>

Who has made it to the nba finals the most