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WEstern Conference

 The Western Conference of the National Basketball Association is made up of fifteen teams, and organized in three divisions of five teams each.

Since 2006, the three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record are seeded 1 through 4 for the playoffs in order of their record, with all remaining non-division winners seeded 5 through 8. This leaves open the possibility that a #2 or #3 seed could be a non-division winner. Home-court advantage in a playoff series is decided by record, not by seeding, so if a #4 and #5 team met in a playoff series in which the #5 team had the better record, the #5 team would have home-court advantage.

The reasoning behind this seeding arrangement is because a non-division winner could have a better record than the winners of the two divisions other than the one that produced the non-division winner in question. If the three division winners were seeded 1 through 3 for the playoffs in order of their record, and all non-division winners seeded 4 through 8, it would be possible for the two leading teams of the conference to meet in the Conference Semifinals. This actually happened in the 2006 NBA Playoffs when the two best teams in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks, both from the Southwest Division, faced one another in the Western Conference Semifinals while the 3rd seed, the Northwest Division-leading Denver Nuggets, had fewer wins than the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th seeds. The NBA proposed and approved of the current format to ensure that the best two teams of a conference can meet no earlier than the NBA Conference Finals.

The Western Conference playoffs is divided into two playoffs rounds, and The NBA Conference Finals with the winner of the Conference Championship facing the Eastern Conference champion in the NBA Finals to determine the champion. All playoff series are best-of-seven.

The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the 04–05 season, when the Charlotte Bobcats began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of the New Orleans Hornets from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the newly-created Southwest Division of the Western Conference.

Lakers
Spurs
Rockets
OKC "Thunder"

Lakers

# 1 Lengendary trams ever!!

Spurs

Scary!!, Watch out for Tim Duncan

Rockets

Fear the Red Beared

OKC "Thunder"

Let's Start the Thunder

Lakers
Spurs
Rockets
OKC "Thunder"



Teams[]

Team Division City Year From
Joined
Dallas Mavericks Southwest Dallas, Texas 1980–present
Denver Nuggets Northwest Denver, Colorado 1976–present

ABC

Golden State Warriors (1971–present)

San Francisco Warriors (19621971)

Pacific

Oakland, California San Francisco, California

1962–present Eastern Division
Houston Rockets (1971–present)

San Diego Rockets (19671971)

Southwest

Houston, Texas

San Diego, California

19671973, 1980–present
Los Angeles Clippers (1984–present)

San Diego Clippers (19781984)

Pacific

Los Angeles, California San Diego, California

1978–present
Los Angeles Lakers (1960–present)

Minneapolis Lakers (19481960)

Pacific Los Angeles, California 1948–1949, 1950–present
Memphis Grizzlies (2001–present)

Vancouver Grizzlies (19952001)

Southwest

Memphis, Tennasse Vancouver, British Columbia

1995–present
Minnesota Timberwolves Northwest Minneapolis, Minnesota 1989–present

New Orleans Pelicans (2013-present) New Orleans Hornets (20022005, 20072013) New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (2005–2007)[a] Charlotte Hornets (19882002)

Southwest

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Charlotte, North Carolina

1989–1990 2004–present Eastern Conference
Oklahoma City Thunder (2008–present)

Seattle SuperSonics (19672008)

Northwest

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Seattle, Washington

1967–present
Phoenix Suns Pacific Phoenix, Arizona 1968–present
Portland Trail Blazers Northwest Portland, Oregon 1970–present
Sacramento Kings (1985–present)

Kansas City Kings (19751985) Kansas City-Omaha Kings (19721975) Cincinnati Royals (19571972) Rochester Royals (1945–1957)

Pacific

Sacramento, California Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska Cincinnati, Ohio   Rochester, New York

1948–1949, 19501963, 1972–present
San Antonio Spurs Southwest San Antonio, Texas 1980–present Eastern Conference
Utah Jazz Northwest Salt Lake City, Utah 1979–present Eastern Conference

Former teams[]

Team City Year From Year To Current conference
Joined Left
Anderson Packers Anderson, Indiana 1949 1950 defunct defunct
Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1949–1951)

Milwaukee Hawks (19551955) St. Louis Hawks (19551968) Atlanta Hawks (1968–present)

Molline, Illonoise Milwaukee, Wisconsin St. Louis, Missouri Atlanta, Georgia

1949 1970 Eastern Conference Eastern Conference
Baltimore Bullets Baltimore, Maryland 1947 1948 Eastern Division defunct
Chicago Bulls Chicago, Illinois 1966 1980 Eastern Conference Eastern Conference
Chicago Packers (1961–1962)

Chicago Zephyrs (1962–1963) Baltimore Bulletts (19621973)

Chicago, Illonois Baltimore, Maryland

1961 1966 Eastern Division

Eastern Conferrence (as Washington Wizards)

Chicago Stags Chicago, Illinois 1946 1949 Central Division defunct
Cleveland Rebels Cleveland, Ohio 1946 1947 defunct defunct
Denver Nuggets Denver, Colorado 1949 1950 defunct defunct
Detroit Falcons Detroit, Michigan 1946 1947 defunct defunct
Fort Wayne Pistons (1948–1957)

Detroit Pistons (1957–present)

Fort Wayne, Indiana Detroit, Michigan

1948 Eastern Division 1957

Central Division Eastern Division

Eastern Conference
Indiana Pacers Indianapolis, Indiana 1976

ABC

1979 Eastern Conference Eastern Conference
Indianapolis Jets Indianapolis, Indiana 1948 1949 defunct defunct
Indianapolis Olympians Indianapolis, Indiana 1949 1953 defunct defunct
Miami Heat Miami, Florida 1988 1989 Eastern Conference Eastern Conference
Milwaukee Bucks Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1970 Eastern Conference 1980 Eastern Conference Eastern Conference
Orlando Magic Orlando, Florida 1990 Eastern Conference 1991 Eastern Conference Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh Ironmen

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1946 1947 defunct defunct
Sheboygan Red Skins Sheboygan, Wisconsin 1949 1950 defunct defunct
St. Louis Bombers St. Louis, Missouri 1946 1949 Central Division defunct
Washington Capitols Washington, D.C. 1947 1948 Eastern Division defunct
Waterloo Hawks Waterloo, Iowa 1949 1950 defunct defunct

Conference Champions[]

Bold Winning team of the BAA Finals or NBA Finals
^ Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season


Season Team Record Playoffs result
1946–47 Chicago Stags 699963900000000000039–22 (.639) Lost BAA Finals 1-4
1947–48 Baltimore Bullets 699958299000000000028–20 (.583) Won BAA Finals 4-2
1948–49 Minneapolis Lakers 699973300000000000044–16 (.733) Won BAA Finals 4-2
1949–50 Minneapolis Lakers 699975000000000000051–17 (.750) Won NBA Finals 4-2
1950–51 Rochester Royals 699960300000000000041–27 (.603) Won NBA Finals 4-3
1951–52 Minneapolis Lakers 699960600000000000040–26 (.606) Won NBA Finals 4-3
1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers 699968600000000000048–22 (.686) Won NBA Finals 4-1
1953–54 Minneapolis Lakers 699963900000000000046–26 (.639) Won NBA Finals 4-3
1954–55 Fort Wayne Pistons 699959700000000000043–29 (.597) Lost NBA Finals 3-4
1955–56 Fort Wayne Pistons 699951400000000000037–35 (.514) Lost NBA Finals 1-4
1956–57 St. Louis Hawks 34–38 Lost NBA Finals 3-4
1957–58 St. Louis Hawks 41–31 Won NBA Finals 4-2
1958–59 Minneapolis Lakers 49–23 Lost NBA Finals 0-4
1959–60 St. Louis Hawks 41–31 Lost NBA Finals 3-4
1960–61 St. Louis Hawks 51–28 Lost NBA Finals 1-4
1961–62 Los Angeles Lakers 54–26 Lost NBA Finals 3-4
1962–63 Los Angeles Lakers 53–27 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1963–64 San Francisco Warriors 48–32 Lost NBA Finals 1-4
1964–65 Los Angeles Lakers 49–31 Lost NBA Finals 1-4
1965–66 Los Angeles Lakers 45–35 Lost NBA Finals 3-4
1966–67 San Francisco Warriors 44–37 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1967–68 Los Angeles Lakers 52–30 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1968–69 Los Angeles Lakers 55–27 Lost NBA Finals 3-4
1969–70 Los Angeles Lakers 46–36 Lost NBA Finals 3-4
1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks 66–16 Won NBA Finals 4-0
1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers 69–13 Won NBA Finals 4-1
1972–73 Los Angeles Lakers 60–22 Lost NBA Finals 1-4
1973–74 Milwaukee Bucks 59–23 Lost NBA Finals 3-4
1974–75 Golden State Warriors 59–23 Won NBA Finals 4-0
1975–76 Phoenix Suns 52–30 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers 49–33 Won NBA Finals 4-2
1977–78 Seattle SuperSonics 46–36 Lost NBA Finals 3-4
1978–79 Seattle SuperSonics 52–30 Won NBA Finals 4-1
1979–80 Los Angeles Lakers 52–30 Won NBA Finals 4-2
1980–81 Houston Rockets 40–42 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers 57–25 Won NBA Finals 4-2
1982–83 Los Angeles Lakers 58–24 Lost NBA Finals 0-4
1983–84 Los Angeles Lakers 54–28 Lost NBA Finals 3-4
1984–85 Los Angeles Lakers 62–20 Won NBA Finals 4-2
1985–86 Houston Rockets 51–31 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers 65–17 Won NBA Finals 4-2
1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers 62–20 Won NBA Finals 4-3
1988–89 Los Angeles Lakers 57–25 Lost NBA Finals 0-4
1989–90 Portland Trail Blazers 59–23 Lost NBA Finals 1-4
1990–91 Los Angeles Lakers 58–24 Lost NBA Finals 1-4
1991–92 Portland Trail Blazers 57–25 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1992–93 Phoenix Suns 62–20 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1993–94 Houston Rockets 58–24 Won NBA Finals 4-3
1994–95 Houston Rockets 47–35 Won NBA Finals 4-0
1995–96 Seattle SuperSonics 64–18 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1996–97 Utah Jazz 64–18 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1997–98 Utah Jazz 62–20 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
1998–99 San Antonio Spurs 37–13 Won NBA Finals 4-1
1999–00 Los Angeles Lakers 67–15 Won NBA Finals 4-2
2000–01 Los Angeles Lakers 56–26 Won NBA Finals 4-1
2001–02 Los Angeles Lakers 58–24 Won NBA Finals 4-0
2002–03 San Antonio Spurs 60–22 Won NBA Finals 4-2
2003–04 Los Angeles Lakers 56–26 Lost NBA Finals 1-4
2004–05 San Antonio Spurs 59–23 Won NBA Finals 4-3
2005–06 Dallas Mavericks 60–22 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
2006–07 San Antonio Spurs 58–24 Won NBA Finals 4-0
2007–08 Los Angeles Lakers 57–25 Lost NBA Finals 2-4
2008–09 Los Angeles Lakers 65–17 Won NBA Finals 4-1
2009–10 Los Angeles Lakers 57–25 Won NBA Finals 4-3
2010–11 Dallas Mavericks 57–25 Won NBA Finals 4-2
2011–12 Oklahoma City Thunder 47–19 Lost NBA Finals 1-4
2012–13 San Antonio Spurs 58–24 Lost NBA Finals 3-4

All items (15)

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