Conference of the National Basketball Association
The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences that make up the National Basketball Association (NBA), the other being the Western Conference . Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into three divisions . The Eastern Conference comprises the Atlantic , Central , and Southeast Divisions.
The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the 2004–05 season , when the now Charlotte Hornets began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of the New Orleans Pelicans from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the newly created Southwest Division of the Western Conference .
The NBA first started awarding an Eastern Conference championship trophy during the 2000–01 season , renaming it after Hall of Famer Bob Cousy in the 2021–22 season .[ 1] Also in 2021–22, the league began awarding the Larry Bird Trophy to the Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player , named after Hall of Famer Larry Bird .[ 2]
2024–25 standings
Notes
Teams
Team
Division
Location
Year
From
Arena
Joined
Atlanta Hawks
Southeast
Atlanta, Georgia
1970 –present
Western Division
State Farm Arena
Boston Celtics
Atlantic
Boston, Massachusetts
1970 –present
Eastern
Division
TD Garden
Brooklyn Nets
Atlantic
Brooklyn, New York
1976 –present
ABA ‡
Barclays Center
Charlotte Hornets
Southeast
Charlotte, North Carolina
1988 –2002 ; 2004 –present
—†
Spectrum Center
Chicago Bulls
Central
Chicago, Illinois
1980 –present
Western Conference
United Center
Cleveland Cavaliers
Central
Cleveland, Ohio
1970 –present
—†
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Detroit Pistons
Central
Detroit, Michigan
1978 –present
Western Conference
Little Caesars Arena
Indiana Pacers
Central
Indianapolis, Indiana
1979 –present
Western Conference
Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Miami Heat
Southeast
Miami, Florida
1989 –present
Western Conference
Kaseya Center
Milwaukee Bucks
Central
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1980 –present
Western Conference
Fiserv Forum
New York Knicks
Atlantic
Manhattan, New York
1970 –present
Eastern Division
Madison Square Garden
Orlando Magic
Southeast
Orlando, Florida
1989 –1990 ; 1991 –present
—†; Western Conference
Kia Center
Philadelphia 76ers
Atlantic
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1970 –present
Eastern Division
Wells Fargo Center
Toronto Raptors
Atlantic
Toronto, Ontario
1995 –present
—†
Scotiabank Arena
Washington Wizards
Southeast
Washington, D.C.
1970 –present
Western Division
Capital One Arena
Notes
Team timeline
Denotes team that currently in the conference
Denotes team that has left the conference
Conference champions
Bold
Winning team of the NBA Finals
^
Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season
Conference championships by team
Season results
References
^ 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 . Retrieved May 12, 2022 .
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