The National Basketball Association (NBA) league office determines the playing schedule for its member teams and in doing so assigns an unequal number of games played on consecutive nights (back-to-back games). Although NBA coaches privately complain of a bias in the scheduling of these types of games, a study of five seasons of data show that no bias exists. Although differences in the number of back-to-back games do result in a slight variation in competitive balance, one positive externality is that these type games reduce travel costs by millions of dollars per year.
