OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors are in the N.B.A. finals for the first time since 1975, playing Games 1 and 2 in the same arena they called home 40 years ago.
Back then, though, the Warriors did not have home-court advantage in the championship series against the Washington Bullets. They did not even have a home court, foiled by a scheduling conflict with the Ice Follies, a touring skating show, that forced the games to be moved to a different Bay Area arena.
“That’s why it’s the biggest upset in the N.B.A. finals,” Rick Barry, the star of that Warriors team, said in a phone interview.