Just four teams remain on the long and harrowing road to the NBA Finals. The Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets enter the Conference Finals in hopes of moving one step closer to claiming the ever-coveted Larry O’Brien Trophy. And while eight wins still separate each team from basketball infamy, each will be making history in the process, as tickets to the 2015 Conference Finals are the most expensive the secondary market has seen in at least the last five years.
According to TiqIQ, both the Eastern and Western Conference series will own an average secondary ticket price above $700. No other series has exceeded an average price of $530 since 2011’s Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls. Perhaps even more notable is the near-identical average both series are posting this season across their seven potential games. The median secondary price for Eastern Conference Finals tickets is $708.28. The West averages less than a dollar cheaper at $707.72.
Action will commence on Tuesday night when the Warriors host the Rockets in Game 1 at Oracle Arena. The average secondary price for Warriors tickets against the Rockets in Game 1 is currently $523.52 and the cheapest ticket starts at $166. On Wednesday, the Hawks welcome the Cavaliers for Game 1 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, where Game 1 Hawks vs Cavaliers tickets average at $572.23 and get-in price is listed at $125. Game 1 will be the least expensive average in the Western Conference Finals while only a $348.79 average for Game 3 Cavaliers playoff tickets will be below the opening game in the East. Prices this high for the Conference Finals could certainly lead to the most expensive NBA Finals tickets on TiqIQ over the past five years.
For traveling fans, hotel room rates do not differ as much by city as ticket prices. According to data provided by travel resource Hipmunk.com, hotels near Phillips Arena start at $74 for a room, and $79 for hotels in downtown Cleveland near Quicken Loans Arena. For the western conference, hotels near Oracle Arena in Oakland start at $89 while hotels near the Toyota Center start at $86.
New faces in the East have also likely caused a boost in ticket prices. 2015 marks the first year since 2011 that the Heat have failed to play in the Eastern Finals. Though LeBron James makes his fifth consecutive trip to the conference championship series, his Cavaliers haven’t been here since 2009, when they lost to the Orlando Magic in six games following a 66-win regular season.
Credit the exorbitant ticket costs to the plethora of superstars still on the hardwood during the postseason’s penultimate round. Fronted by the NBA’s most well-known face in James, the Cavaliers enter their series against Al Horford and the Hawks hoping to punch their ticket to just their second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history. The Hawks, playing in their first Conference finals since moving to Atlanta from St. Louis in 1968, haven’t played on the league’s biggest stage since falling to the Boston Celtics in five championship games in 1961.
On the other side of the country, the Warriors have cruised with relative ease into the Western finals against the Rockets. The team won 67 games during the regular season and has continued to gain momentum through its first two rounds of playoff action, sweeping the New Orleans Pelicans in four games during the quarterfinals before ousting the Grizzlies in six semifinals games. Much of the Warriors' success is attributed to the MVP performance of Steph Curry and his diverse cast of sharpshooters and dominant big men. Expect Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut to limit Dwight Howard down low as Curry and Klay Thompson ignite the team's offense.
Still reeling from a Game 7 win over the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday afternoon, James Harden and the Rockets will have to respond quickly against the well-rested and widely-favorited Warriors when they tip off Tuesday. They make their first trip to the Western Conference Finals since 1997.
