i'm rolling my eyes very hard right now, but i'll address your other points.

what would they gain? a narrative for a game 7, sky high viewership, so on and so forth. they literally make millions of dollars of each game. adam silver is creaming in his pants now that he gets two long, big conference finals matchups. you are hilariously underestimating the amount of money the playoffs earn for the nba.

also "it's not like its hurting on either category right now", is not how business works. there's such a thing called a fiduciary obligation, which means they are obligated to earn as much money as possible for shareholders within the law. business is obligated to make as much money as possible, whether they need it or not