The NBA Finals is the championship series for the National Basketball Association (NBA) held at the conclusion of its postseason. All NBA Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference (formerly Divisions before 1970), except in 1950 when the Eastern Division champion faced the winner between the Western and Central Division champions. From 1946 through 1949, when the league was known as the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the playoffs were a three-stage tournament where the two semifinal winners played each other in the finals. [1] [2] [3] The winning team of the series receives the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, which is awarded since 1977 (between 1947 and 1976 the winning team received the Walter A. Brown Trophy). [4]
The current home-and-away format in the NBA Finals is 2–2–1–1–1 (the team with the better regular season record plays on its home court in games 1, 2, 5, and 7), which has been used in 1947, 1948, [5] 1950–1952, [6] [7] [8] 1957–1970, 1972–1974, 1976, 1977, 1979–1984, and since 2014. It was previously in a 2–3–2 format (the team with the better regular season record plays on its home court in games 1, 2, 6, and 7) during 1949, 1953–1955, and 1985–2013, [9] [10] in a 1–1–1–1–1–1–1 format in 1956 and 1971, [11] [12] and in a 1–2–2–1–1 format in 1975 and 1978. [13] [14]
As of 2024 [update] , the Eastern champions have a 41–36 advantage in NBA titles over the Western champions, with their most recent being the Boston Celtics who have won 18 titles, the most of any team in the league. [15] The 1949–50 Minneapolis Lakers, who won the NBA Finals, are not counted in the Eastern versus Western champions record above as they played in the Central Division.
Bold | Winning team of the BAA/NBA Finals |
Italics | Team with home-court advantage |
Italics | Finals MVP was on losing team |
† | Only defunct team to win championship |
Eight consecutive
Three consecutive
Two consecutive
The Celtics–Lakers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics and the Lakers are the two most storied franchises in the NBA, and the rivalry has been called the greatest in the league. The teams have met a record 12 times in the NBA Finals, with their first such meeting being in 1959. They would both go on to dominate the league in the 1960s and 1980s, facing each other in the Finals six times in the 1960s, three times in the 1980s, and recently in 2008 and 2010.
The Central Division is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams, the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers, and the Milwaukee Bucks. All teams except the Cavaliers are former Midwest Division teams; thus, the Central Division now largely resembles the Midwest Division in the 1970s.
The Pacific Division is one of the three divisions in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams: the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings. All teams, except the Suns, are based in California. Along with the American League West of Major League Baseball, they are one of two North American major league divisions with no animal themed nicknames.
The 1956 NBA draft was the tenth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 30, 1956, before the 1956–57 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. In each round, the teams select in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season, except for the defending champion and runner-up, who were assigned the last two picks on each round. The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising 92 players selected.
The 1951 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on March 2, 1951, at Boston Garden in Boston, home of the Boston Celtics. The game was the first edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and was played during the 1950–51 NBA season. The idea of holding an All-Star Game was conceived during a meeting between NBA President Maurice Podoloff, NBA publicity director Haskell Cohen and Boston Celtics owner Walter A. Brown. At that time, the basketball world had just been stunned by the college basketball point-shaving scandal. In order to regain public attention to the league, Cohen suggested the league to host an exhibition game featuring the league's best players, similar to the Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Although most people, including Podoloff, were pessimistic about the idea, Brown remained confident that it would be a success. He even offered to host the game and to cover all the expenses or potential losses incurred from the game. The Eastern All-Stars team defeated the Western All-Stars team 111–94. Boston Celtics' Ed Macauley was named as the first NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. The game became a success, drawing an attendance of 10,094, much higher than that season's average attendance of 3,500.
The 2009 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2008–09 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant was named NBA Finals MVP.
The 1952 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on February 11, 1952, at Boston Garden in Boston, home of the Boston Celtics. The game was the second edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and was played during the 1951–52 NBA season. The Eastern All-Stars team defeated the Western All-Stars team 108–91. This was the East's second successive win over the West. Philadelphia Warriors' Paul Arizin, who led the East with 26 points, was named as the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.
The 1953 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on January 13, 1953, at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, home of the Fort Wayne Pistons. The game was the third edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and was played during the 1952–53 NBA season. The Western All-Stars team defeated the Eastern All-Stars team 79–75. This was the West's first ever win over the East. Minneapolis Lakers' George Mikan, who led the West with 22 points and 16 rebounds, was named as the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.
The 2010 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2009-10 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant was named NBA Finals MVP for the second straight year.
The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to form the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The 2010–11 NBA season was the 65th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 2011 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 20, 2011, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Chicago's Derrick Rose was named the 2010–11 NBA MVP. The Dallas Mavericks won their first championship by defeating the Miami Heat 4 games to 2.
The 2011–12 NBA season was the 66th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which began with the signing of a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the owners of the 30 NBA teams and the NBA's players. The previous CBA, which was ratified in 2005, expired at 12:01 am EDT on July 1, 2011, resulting in a lockout. With the new deal in place, the regular season was shortened from the normal 82 games per team to 66, because of nearly two months of inactivity. This was the league's first season since 1991–92 without Shaquille O'Neal, who announced his retirement on June 1, 2011, via social media. A 4-time champion, O'Neal played 19 years for the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics. The season began on Christmas Day 2011, and ended on April 26, 2012. The playoffs started on April 28 and ended on June 21 when the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their series, 121–106, winning the Finals, 4–1 and to capture the franchise's second NBA title. LeBron James was named both the season MVP and the NBA Finals MVP. The NBA regular season would not begin again in December until the 2020–21 NBA season.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)