Since 1985, in order to cut-down on cross-country travel for the hundreds of staff and media working the championship series, the NBA has used the 2-3-2 format for The Finals, with the team with the better regular-season record hosting Games 1, 2, 6 and 7.

Since then, the team which hosts Games 3, 4 and 5 has won just six of the 26 Finals (23 percent). In comparison, the "lower seed" in the conference finals has won 33 percent (18 of 54), using the 2-2-1-1-1 format, since 1985.

In order to win any series, the lower seed -- in The Finals, that would be the team with the middle three games at home -- needs to win at least one game in its opponent's arena. But in the 2-3-2 format, it likely has to do better than that.

Before Dwyane Wade even sat down for a post-practice news conference Monday, he offered a pre-emptive strike.

"I'm not hurt," he said.

Wade has insisted there's no major issue, saying instead that no one is fully healthy at this point in the season. Like Spoelstra, Wade said Monday's practice was of the high-energy variety.

"Needless to say, this is one of the most anticipated practices for us all since training camp ... because this is the opportunity -- this is the time where not a lot of people on our team have been," Wade said. "Not a lot of guys have been to the finals."

How much does J.J. Barea concern the Heat? They're actually putting him in the same sentences as the league’s Most Valuable Player. With a straight face.

“If you don’t treat him with the same type of respect as we did with Derrick Rose he can really come in and have an impact on the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I’m sure there will be some possessions where LeBron will be on him."

OK, so James will also be guarding Nowitzki, likely in the fourth quarters. And Barea plays only about 18 minutes a game.

While there is so much attention being paid to who can put a dent in the Nowitzki Express, there’s a reason why Barea is getting a prominent position in Miami’s scouting report. It isn’t just what he does, but what happens to the Mavericks’ offense when he’s in the game. One of coach Rick Carlisle’s most effective weapons during the playoffs has been his shooting/spread offense with Barea playing the equivalent role of Chris Paul.

Dwyane Wade spoke about remaining with the Heat for all eight seasons of his career.

“You look at players who are quote, unquote star players, you look and say they shouldn’t go past three teams,” he said. “When you look at it, you say three teams is the most a guy should go to when he’s a franchise player.

“But it doesn’t always work out that way. As of right now, I’ve been blessed to be in one city for my career and hopefully it can end that way.”

The goal, he said, is to finish where he started.

“It would be an honor for me,” he said. “I would love to stay here for my whole career and retire as a Heat. It would be something that most players haven’t done.”

Dirk Nowitzki's now famous fading jumper on one leg that helped the Mavs beat the Thunder impressed the Heat.

"That is something new. He has always made some awkward shots for a big guy, but that one-legged shot that is pretty much un-guardable," said Heat forward Udonis Haslem, who had success guarding Nowitzki in 2006 when the Heat beat the Mavericks to win the title.

"Probably the most unstoppable shot ever is the sky hook. I guess you put Dirk second," James said. "You have a seven-footer fading away off one leg. There is no one that can block that shot."

With the collective bargaining agreement set to expire in about a month and no real signs of progress, a likely lockout has left the Cavs in a predicament with their trade exception.

The Cavs have until July 9 to use the $14.5 million trade exception they obtained in the LeBron James deal with the Miami Heat. But the lockout is set to begin July 1, rendering the final nine days of the trade exception worthless.

The Cavs have petitioned the league to have the final nine days tacked on to the new season. If granted, it would give the Cavs nine days after the lockout was lifted to use whatever part of the exception they had remaining. But the Cavs have no idea whether or not the league will grant the request, and they don't expect to hear an answer from the league until after the lockout is lifted.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James said Saturday he appreciates Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen saying James "may be the greatest player to ever play the game." But James said he has a "long way" to go before being mentioned with Michael Jordan or anyone else who is considered the greatest of all time.

"Mike was an unbelievable player," James said after the Heat's practice Saturday at AmericanAirlines Arena in preparation for Tuesday's Game 1 of the NBA Finals against Dallas.

"I've got a long way, a long way, to be mentioned as one of the all-time greats. Not even just Jordan. It's a lot of great players that have played in this league. Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and all these guys floating around with multiple rings. Bill Russell.

"All these guys have pioneered this game for myself and D-Wade (Heat teammate Dwyane Wade) so I'm gracious, humbled by Scottie's comments, especially being a teammate of his and seeing Michael on a day-to-day basis. But as far as me, I don't know. I'm not going to sit here and say I'm better than Jordan or if I'm not better than Jordan. It's not about that."

Dwyane Wade was given Saturday's practice off by Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra so the guard could get some extra rest before the start of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.

The team has said that Wade, who did some light shooting with teammates after the main workout, does not have an injury. He has been bothered by some fatigue over the last few games, which Wade and Spolestra said is the byproduct of physical series with both the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls.

"It was more of a preparation day and a mental day," Spoelstra said. "Some guys needed to have another day to recover from the last series."

The Miami Heat won the series and plenty of television viewers in the Eastern Conference finals.

The five-game series between the Heat and Chicago Bulls averaged 10.4 million viewers on TNT. That’s up 46 percent from last year’s Celtics-Magic matchup in the East, and up 33 percent from Lakers-Suns on TNT in 2010.

The Western Conference finals, with Dallas beating Oklahoma City, weren’t the same draw. The five games on ESPN averaged 6.9 million viewers.

Whenever he wants to feel humbled, LeBron James pops in the tapes of the 2007 NBA finals.

No matter what, the outcome never changes. He got swept. San Antonio simply outclassed Cleveland four years ago in the title series, and that still serves as a colossal source of motivation for James—who makes no secret that he’s fueled by slights and disappointments.

“I think about it all the time,” James said of that 2007 series. “I even go back and watch some of those games and see how I wasn’t that good of a player, especially on both ends of the floor. You just try to use those moments. I feel like there’s no way I should be out on the floor and the team that I’m on can’t win a game in a series. I use that as motivation. … I’ve got a lot of motivation.”