NEW YORK -- David Sterns NBA owners gathered one last time, toasting the outgoing commissioner before he leaves after 30 years on the job. Scarpe Basket Kyrie Irving In Vendita . 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." Scarpe Nike Tn Scontate . Raonic, the No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., fired 11 aces and did not have a double-fault as he comfortably advanced to the third round at the Masters Series event. Air Max 97 False . Leave it to Matt Niskanen, the newly proclaimed Eddie Haskell of the Washington Capitals. http://www.airmaxshoponlineitalia.it/scontate-max-tn-outlet.html . JOHNS, N.HOYLAKE, England -- Ernie Els hit a spectator in the face with his opening tee shot at the British Open on Thursday, shaking up the two-time champion for the rest of his first round at Royal Liverpool. The mans injury and Els subsequent triple-bogey 7 on the first hole were just the start of his problems. The Big Easy will have a big task trying to stick around for the weekend after carding a 7-over 79, including 42 on the front nine. Els said he was "quite rattled" after he realized the man, who he estimated was in his 60s, was bleeding profusely from a shot that Els said hit the spectator directly in the face. "There was blood everywhere," Els said. "It was like a bullet coming at him. I obviously felt pretty bad about it. It wasnt nice. I was trying to hit it left, and should have told the starters to move the people back on the left side, but I didnt do that." Els said he would make inquiries about the mans recovery. Tournament officials said the spectator was not seriously injured. On the first green, Els missed a bogey putt from about eight inches, bizarrely backhanded the subsequent foot-long putt just past the hole and tapped in for his triple bogey. "Yeah, I was kind of finished. I started to miss short puttts, it was just a nightmare," he said. Scarpe Lebron James 2019. Els said he may have "put the jinx" on his playing partners -- defending champion Phil Mickelson shot 74, and Masters winner Bubba Watson had a 76. Watson said he felt Els was affected by the mans injury. "When we got to the green Ernie said he hit somebody right in the jaw and he said it wasnt good," Watson said. "And you could tell Ernie was shaken up by it. Youre not trying to hit a bad shot in, but when you hit somebody like that its not a good scene, and its very heart-breaking. Im not saying thats why he struggled on that hole, but Im pretty sure thats what it was." There was a bit of comic relief on the 18th where Els had to gently prod a frog away from the tee box with his driver, prompting a smile. Els won his British Open titles 10 years apart -- at Muirfield in 2002 and at Royal Lytham in 2012. He also has two U.S. Open trophies. Hes playing his 24th British Open, where he has seven top-five finishes, and has missed the cut just three times. That total could well be four after Friday. "I played the front nine in 7-over par, (on) a perfect day, and thats just unheard of," Els said. "Hopefully well get it tomorrow." ' ' '