Report: NBA Finals ticket prices down 11 percent from 2013

"There's nothing wrong with doing sequels, they're just easier to sell." - J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams was, of course, talking about films, not NBA Finals series, and it seems in the early stages that the "easy money" that can come from sequels in Hollywood doesn't translate to the NBA.

Ticket prices on secondary markets are down 11 percent from 2013, according to a report from SLAM, from an average of $974.21 to $865.32 per ticket. If you're thinking that the San Antonio Spurs having home court advantage instead of the Miami Heat is a factor, consider that the price drop is just 5.4 percent for the San Antonio games and 13.6 percent for the Miami games.

To what does the league owe this drop in prices? Well, for one, timing - because demand far outstrips supply, prices can still go up ahead of Thursday's series opener and subsequent games. 

Game 7 tickets, in particular, seem like they should be a hot ticket but prices are 17.6 percent lower than for last year's Game 7, perhaps owing to the fact that people are unwilling to shell out over a thousand dollars on speculation of a Game 7 (they would get their money back if the series didn't go that far, but you still have to pay the money initially).

There may be some concern that there is a fatigue with a back-to-back finals match-up. That's difficult to understand from a hardcore basketball fan's perspective, as this series has no shortage of interesting storylines, but a more casual fan going to a game for the experience may not care to see the same teams again.

Our guess, however, would be that prices inch up closer to their 2013 levels as the series rolls along.