The NBA conference finals are the Eastern and Western Conference championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA), a major professional basketball league in North America. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). [1] The NBA adopted its current name at the start of the 1949–50 season when the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL). [2] The league currently consists of 30 teams, of which 29 are located in the United States and 1 in Canada. Each team plays 82 games in the regular season. [A] After the regular season, eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs. At the end of the playoffs, the top two teams play each other in the conference finals, to determine the conference champions from each side, who then proceed to play in the NBA Finals. Trophies were given to each conference winner starting in 2001. In 2022, the league started naming an NBA Conference Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for each conference. [3]
Initially, the BAA teams were aligned into the Eastern Division and the Western Division. The Divisional Finals were first played in 1949, the league's third season. The first two seasons used a playoffs format where Eastern and Western Division teams would face each other before the BAA Finals. Hence, there were no divisional finals. In the 1949–50 season, the league realigned itself to three divisions, with the addition of the Central Division. However, the arrangement was only used for one season, and the league returned to the two-division format in 1951. The two divisions' format remained until 1970 when the NBA realigned itself into two conferences with two divisions each, which led to the renaming to conference finals.
The finals were a best-of-3 series from 1949 to 1950, a best-of-5 series from 1951 to 1956, and a best-of-7 series since 1957. The conference finals are currently played in a best-of-7 series like the NBA playoffs and Finals. The two series are played in late May each year after the first and second rounds of the Playoffs and before the Finals. After the conference finals, winners are presented with a silver trophy, caps, and T-shirts and advance to the NBA Finals.
The Los Angeles Lakers have won the most conference titles with 19. They have also made 24 appearances in the conference finals, more than any other team, which included eight consecutive appearances in the Western Conference finals from 1982 to 1989. The Boston Celtics have won 11 conference championships, the second most of any team. 23 of the 30 active franchises have won at least one conference title. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers have each played in at least one conference finals, but have failed to win their respective conference title. Two other franchises, the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans, have never appeared in the conference finals.
The NBA first awarded conference championship trophies in 2001. [4] In 2022, both were redesigned, and named the Bob Cousy Trophy for the Eastern Conference and the Oscar Robertson Trophy for the Western Conference, in honor of two men who were instrumental in developing and advancing the players' labor union, the National Basketball Players Association. The two redesigned trophies each feature a silver basketball with its respective conference finals logo on the underside. The trophies also have a slightly different base for each conference to help distinguish one from the other; the silver basketball on the Eastern Conference trophy sits on three pegs, while the Western Conference trophy has the basketball on intercrossing circular rings. The silver basketball is quartered into four sections, representing the winning team first qualifying for the playoffs and then advancing through the three playoff rounds. In that same year, the NBA began awarding Conference Finals MVPs to the best-performing player of each Conference Finals: the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award and the Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award, named for the two players credited for building the league up to greater popularity in the 1980s. The MVP trophies follow a design similar to that of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy, only smaller, and the ball on each trophy is silver, instead of gold, and follows the Conference Championship trophies in how it sits on the base. [5]
| NBA champion, winner of the NBA Finals | |
| † | Team with the best regular season record, or tie for best |
Stats updated through May 30, 2024
| Team | East | West | Total | East | West | Total | Total appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Runner-up | ||||||
| Los Angeles Lakers | 0 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 24 |
| Boston Celtics | 11 | 0 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 23 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 14 |
| Chicago Bulls | 6 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| Detroit Pistons | 5 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 11 |
| Miami Heat | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
| Phoenix Suns | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| San Francisco / Golden State Warriors | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Indiana Pacers | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 9 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Houston Rockets | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| New York Knicks | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Utah Jazz | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Denver Nuggets | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Baltimore / Washington Bullets | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Orlando Magic | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Toronto Raptors | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| New Jersey / Brooklyn Nets | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kansas City / Sacramento Kings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of appearances, then by number of wins, and finally by year of first appearance. In the "Season(s)" column, bold years indicate winning conference finals appearances.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams. It is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.
The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbach.
The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awarded the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, which replaced the original Walter A. Brown Trophy in 1976–77, though under the same name until 1984.
The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002.
The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, four games to two, to win their first NBA championship.
The 1998–99 NBA season was the 53rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Due to a lockout, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, after a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. All 29 teams played a shortened 50-game-per-team regular season schedule and the 16 teams who qualified for the playoffs played a full post-season schedule. That season's All-Star Game, which would have been held in Philadelphia, was also canceled. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs winning the franchise's first NBA championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the 1999 NBA Finals. This was the 50th season since the BAA and NBL had merged into the NBA.
The 1949–50 NBA season was the inaugural season of the National Basketball Association, which was created in 1949 by merger of the 3-year-old BAA and 12-year-old NBL. The 1950 NBA playoffs ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Syracuse Nationals in 6 games in the NBA Finals.
The Southwest Division is one of the three divisions in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Despite its name, the division is actually located in the South Central United States. The division consists of five teams: the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Rockets, the Memphis Grizzlies, the New Orleans Pelicans and the San Antonio Spurs. Three of the teams, the Mavericks, Rockets, and Spurs, are based in Texas.
The Atlantic Division is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams, the Boston Celtics, the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Toronto Raptors. All teams, except the Raptors, are located on the East Coast of the United States. However, Toronto sports teams have over the years enjoyed rivalries with teams in the Northeastern United States.
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 1951 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1951 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1950–51 season. The Western Division champion Rochester Royals faced the Eastern Division champion New York Knicks in a best-of-seven series with Rochester having home-court advantage.
The 1950 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s inaugural 1949–50 season following the merger of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The Central Division champion Minneapolis Lakers faced the Eastern Division champion Syracuse Nationals in a best-of-seven series with Syracuse having home-court advantage.
The 1947 BAA Finals was the championship round of playoffs following the inaugural Basketball Association of America (BAA)'s 1946–47 season. The Philadelphia Warriors of the Eastern Division faced the Chicago Stags of the Western Division for the inaugural championship, with Philadelphia having home court advantage. Hall of Fame inductee Joe Fulks played for the Warriors in the series.
The 1951 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association 1950–51 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Rochester Royals defeating the Eastern Division champion New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.
The 1949 BAA playoffs was the postseason tournament following the Basketball Association of America 1948–49 season, its third and last. Later that year the BAA and National Basketball League merged to create the National Basketball Association or NBA. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Division champion Washington Capitols 4 games to 2 in the BAA Finals.
The 1950 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the inaugural National Basketball Association 1949–50 season. The tournament concluded with the Central Division champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Division champion Syracuse Nationals 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs is the annual elimination tournament held to determine the league champion. The four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held after the league's regular season and its preliminary postseason tournament, the NBA play-in tournament. Six teams from each of the two conferences automatically advance to the playoffs based on regular season winning percentage, while those teams finishing seven through 10 from each conference compete in the play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff seeds.
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).
To complete the postseason collection, the NBA updated its conference championship trophies, first created in 2001
