21 games with a groin injury ... The season series will conclude on Fe

NEW YORK -- David Sterns NBA owners gathered one last time, toasting the outgoing commissioner before he leaves after 30 years on the job. Raptors Jerseys 2020 . They also changed back one of the earliest changes Stern made. Leaving with Stern is the NBA Finals format he implemented in his first full year on the job, one that alleviated travel concerns but critics felt also gave an advantage to the lower-seeded team. Beginning with the 2014 finals, the higher-seeded team will host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The lower seed gets Games 3, 4 and 6, following the same format the NBA uses in all other rounds. The NBA for the previous 29 years has used whats referred to as the 2-3-2 format, in which the higher seed hosts the first two games, then goes on the road for three straight. The 2-3-2 format was instituted in 1985 in part to ease the amount of cross-country travel with the Celtics and Lakers frequently meeting for the championship. But some felt it also worked against the team that should have the advantage. "There certainly was a perception ... it was unfair to the team that had the better record, that it was then playing the pivotal Game 5 on the road. So this obviously moves that game back to giving home-court advantage to the team with the better record if its a 2-2 series," Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. The unanimous vote to approve the 2-2-1-1-1 format came Wednesday during Sterns final preseason meeting with his board of governors. Owners also voted to add an extra day between Games 6 and 7. The leagues competition committee had recommended the change last month back to 2-2-1-1-1, which was used in all but one finals from 1957 to 1984. Stern has often said he was acting on advice -- or complaints -- about the travel from former Celtics boss Red Auerbach when the finals format was switched. But with commercial flights long since replaced by charters, teams didnt have the same difficulties now with the number of trips. Instead, the ones who had the higher seed found it more inconvenient, Stern said, to be on the road for as many as eight days in a row when the opponent hosted the middle three games. Silver, who will become commissioner after Stern retires Feb. 1, is a proponent of the 2-2-1-1-1 format, though he said Stern and other league executives all thought it was time for the change. "It reached a crescendo where basketball people thought it was important and the business people stood down and said it was no longer necessary for the convenience of transportation or the media," Silver said. Beyond the re-election of Spurs owner Peter Holt as chairman, there was little other business for the owners, who toasted Stern during dinner Tuesday night. Stern said there was a video tribute voiced by Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, along with "some speechifying" and "a series of totally embarrassing photos of me over the last 36 years." "I got the opportunity to thank my colleagues at the NBA for their incredible work and saying how pleased I was that the league was in such good hands under those colleagues and Adams stewardship," Stern said. The owners were also presented with a Stern bobblehead doll. The commissioner said Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert joked that unlike most bobbleheads whose heads nod up and down, Sterns only moves side to side as if shaking its head no. "Its been a great opportunity," Stern said. "Believe it or not, even including my interaction with the media and the burns that come from being a lightning rod, its been a great run, and Im grateful to the owners for giving me the opportunity." Toronto Raptors Shirts . Now the Minnesota Vikings have set their sights on soccer. Toronto Raptors Store . After two months of mediocrity, perhaps the Washington Nationals have turned the page. Strasburg struck out 11 in seven innings Wednesday night and the Nationals kept the Philadelphia Phillies bats quiet yet again in an 8-4, rain-interrupted win. https://www.cheapraptors.com/ . The Montreal Canadiens goaltender has won three of his four games since returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out from the end of the Olympic break until March 15.St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Porter scored the game-winning goal with 1:54 remaining in the third period to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 4-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Monday. Maxim Lapierre, Ian Cole and Paul Stastny all scored for St. Louis, which has won its last two games. Martin Brodeur made 32 saves in his home debut. Nick Bjugstad and Aaron Ekblad both lit the lamp for Florida, which received 24 stops from Roberto Luongo in defeat. With the game tied at 2-2, Porter redirected Barret Jackmans right point shot and Stastny tallied an empty-net goal with 32 seconds remaining to seal the win. The Panthers appeared to get on the board 2:30 into the game as Tomas Kopecky rushed through the slot and fired a shot that Brodeur squeezed with his pads. The play was reviewed, but it was ruled no goal. Just over eight minutes into the contest, the Blues had a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:54, but Luongo came up big and denied Jori Lehtera with his right pad on a tip-in atteempt in tight. Cheap Raptors Jerseys. Lapierre fired a shot from the right side that deflected off Panthers forward Vincent Trochecks skate and into the net to give St. Louis the lead 11:17 into the opening stanza. Coles slap shot from the high slot deflected off a Panthers defender and past Luongo for a 2-0 Blues lead with 2:26 remaining in the first. Bjugstad cut Floridas deficit in half after he elected to shoot instead of pass on a 2-on-1, and his wrister found twine over Brodeurs shoulder with 4:39 to play in the middle frame. The Panthers pulled even with 5:06 remaining as Ekblad jumped up on the play and beat Brodeur with a wrister from the right circle. Game Notes St. Louis has won five straight games against Florida ... The Blues improved to 13-3-1 when scoring first ... Panthers forward Dave Bolland returned to the lineup after missing 21 games with a groin injury ... The season series will conclude on Feb. 15 at BB&T Center. ' ' '