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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 2014–present. 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 during 1956 and 1971,[11][12] and in a 1–2–2–1–1 format during 1975 and 1978.[13][14]
As of 2024[update], the Eastern champions have a 41–37 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]
Champions
[edit]- The first parentheses in the Western champions and Eastern champions columns indicate the teams' playoff seed. The second parentheses indicate the number of times that teams have appeared in an NBA Finals as well as each respective team's NBA Finals record to date.
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 |
Results by team
[edit]- ^ Includes record as Minneapolis Lakers
- ^ Includes record as Philadelphia and San Francisco Warriors
- ^ Includes record as Syracuse Nationals
- ^ Includes record as Fort Wayne Pistons
- ^ Includes record as St. Louis Hawks
- ^ Includes record as Baltimore and Washington Bullets
- ^ Includes record as Seattle SuperSonics
- ^ Not affiliated with the present-day Washington Wizards, known as the Baltimore Bullets from 1963 to 1973.
- ^ Includes record as Rochester Royals
- ^ Includes record as New York and New Jersey Nets
Consecutive championships
[edit]Eight consecutive
Three consecutive
- Minneapolis Lakers (1952–1954)
- Chicago Bulls (1991–1993)
- Chicago Bulls (1996–1998)
- Los Angeles Lakers (2000–2002)
Two consecutive
- Minneapolis Lakers (1949–1950)
- Boston Celtics (1968–1969)
- Los Angeles Lakers (1987–1988)
- Detroit Pistons (1989–1990)
- Houston Rockets (1994–1995)
- Los Angeles Lakers (2009–2010)
- Miami Heat (2012–2013)
- Golden State Warriors (2017–2018)
Frequent matchups
[edit]See also
[edit]- List of ABA champions
- List of National Basketball Association longest winning streaks
- List of National Basketball League (United States) champions
- List of NBA championship head coaches
- List of NBA franchise post-season droughts
- List of NBA franchise post-season streaks
- List of NBA G League champions
- WNBA Finals
- List of NBA players with most championships
- NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
Notes
[edit]- ^ The Finals MVP Award was first awarded in 1969.
- ^ Minneapolis was the Central Division (now defunct, no relation to the current Central Division) playoff champion, while the Anderson Packers were the Western Division playoff champion.[19] Due to the NBA's realignment into three divisions,[20][21] the team with the best regular season record after the Divisional Finals advanced automatically to the NBA Finals, while the other two teams faced off in the NBA Semifinals to determine the other finalist. Eastern Division playoff champion Syracuse had the best regular season record among the division playoff champions, causing Minneapolis to face Anderson in the NBA Semifinals.[19][22]
- ^ The trophy was renamed for Walter A. Brown.
- ^ The trophy was replaced by a new design.[50][51]
- ^ The trophy was renamed for Larry O'Brien.
- ^ After a lockout, the season started on February 5, 1999, and all 29 teams played a shortened 50-game regular season schedule.[74]
- ^ After a lockout, the season started on December 25, 2011, and all 30 teams played a shortened 66-game regular season schedule.[88][89]
- ^ The 2019–20 NBA season was delayed and shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic and finished in October 2020 with a bubble tournament.[98]
References
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External links
[edit]- NBA.com: List of champions Archived May 13, 2022, at the Wayback Machine