Conference of the National Basketball Association
TheEastern Conference is one of twoconferences that make up theNational Basketball Association (NBA), the other being theWestern Conference. Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into threedivisions. The Eastern Conference comprises theAtlantic,Central, andSoutheast Divisions.
The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the2004–05 season, when the nowCharlotte Hornets began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of theNew Orleans Pelicans from the Eastern Conference'sCentral Division to the newly createdSouthwest Division of theWestern Conference.
The NBA first started awarding an Eastern Conference championship trophy during the2000–01 season, renaming it after Hall of FamerBob Cousy in the2021–22 season.[1] Also in 2021–22, the league began awarding the Larry Bird Trophy to theEastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player, named after Hall of FamerLarry Bird.[2]
Notes
- c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
- y – Clinched division title
- pi – Clinched play-in tournament spot (locked into a play-in spot but not able to clinch a playoff spot directly)
- x – Clinched playoff spot
- * – Division leader
| Team | Division | Location | Year | From |
|---|
| Joined |
|---|
| Atlanta Hawks | Southeast | Atlanta, Georgia | 1970–present | Western Division |
| Boston Celtics | Atlantic | Boston, Massachusetts | 1970–present | Eastern Division |
| Brooklyn Nets | Atlantic | Brooklyn, New York | 1976–present | ABA‡ |
| Charlotte Hornets | Southeast | Charlotte, North Carolina | 1988–2002;2004–present | —† |
| Chicago Bulls | Central | Chicago, Illinois | 1980–present | Western Conference |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Central | Cleveland, Ohio | 1970–present | —† |
| Detroit Pistons | Central | Detroit, Michigan | 1978–present | Western Conference |
| Indiana Pacers | Central | Indianapolis, Indiana | 1979–present | Western Conference |
| Miami Heat | Southeast | Miami, Florida | 1989–present | Western Conference |
| Milwaukee Bucks | Central | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 1980–present | Western Conference |
| New York Knicks | Atlantic | New York City, New York | 1970–present | Eastern Division |
| Orlando Magic | Southeast | Orlando, Florida | 1989–1990;1991–present | —†; Western Conference |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Atlantic | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1970–present | Eastern Division |
| Toronto Raptors | Atlantic | Toronto, Ontario | 1995–present | —† |
| Washington Wizards | Southeast | Washington, D.C. | 1970–present | Western Division |
- Notes
| Denotes team that currently in the conference |
| Denotes team that has left the conference |
Conference champions
[edit]| Bold | Winning team of theNBA Finals |
| ^ | Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season |
Conference championships by team
[edit]- ^Golliver, Ben (May 12, 2022)."NBA redesigns Finals trophy, adds awards named after Magic Johnson, Larry Bird".The Washington Post.
To complete the postseason collection, the NBA updated its conference championship trophies, first created in 2001, and renamed them after Hall of Famers Bob Cousy (for the East) and Oscar Robertson (for the West)
- ^Powell, Shaun (May 12, 2022)."NBA introduces new lineup of postseason hardware".NBA.com. RetrievedMay 12, 2022.