Eastern Conference (NBA)
The Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association is one of two conferences that makes up the league, the other being the Western Conference. Like the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference is made up of 15 teams, organized in three 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.
Current standings
Notes- z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
- c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
- y – Clinched division title
- x – Clinched playoff spot
- * – Division leader
Teams
Former teams
;Notes- denotes an expansion team.
- denotes a team that merged from the American Basketball Association.
- denotes a team that merged from the National Basketball league
Team timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25
Period = from:1946 till:2019
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:60 left:20 bottom:20 top:0
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:tan1 from:1946 till:end text:Boston Celtics
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1946 till:end text:New York Knicks
bar:3 color:tan2 from:1946 till:1962 text:Philadelphia Warriors
bar:4 color:tan2 from:1946 till:1949 text:Providence Steamrollers
bar:5 color:tan2 from:1946 till:1947 text:Toronto Huskies
bar:6 color:tan2 from:1946 till:1947 text:Washington Capitols
bar:6 color:tan2 from:1948 till:1951
bar:7 color:tan2 from:1948 till:1954 text:Baltimore Bullets
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1949 till:end text:Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers
bar:9 color:tan2 from:1962 till:1972 text:Cincinnati Royals
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1966 till:end text:Baltimore Bullets / Capital Bullets / Washington Bullets / Washington Wizards
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1967 till:1970 text:Detroit Pistons
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1978 till:end
bar:12 color:tan1 from:1968 till:1970 text:Milwaukee Bucks
bar:12 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end
bar:13 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:Atlanta Hawks
bar:14 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1978 text:Buffalo Braves
bar:15 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:Cleveland Cavaliers
bar:16 color:tan2 from:1972 till:1980 text:Houston Rockets
bar:17 color:tan2 from:1974 till:1979 text:New Orleans Jazz
bar:18 color:tan1 from:1976 till:end text:New York Nets / New Jersey Nets / Brooklyn Nets
bar:19 color:tan2 from:1976 till:1980 text:San Antonio Spurs
bar:20 color:tan1 from:1979 till:end text:Indiana Pacers
bar:21 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end text:Chicago Bulls
bar:22 color:tan1 from:1988 till:1989 text:Charlotte Hornets / Bobcats / Hornets
bar:22 color:tan1 from:1990 till:2002
bar:22 color:tan1 from:2004 till:end
bar:23 color:tan1 from:1989 till:end text:Miami Heat
bar:24 color:tan1 from:1989 till:1990 text:Orlando Magic
bar:24 color:tan1 from:1991 till:end
bar:25 color:tan1 from:1995 till:end text:Toronto Raptors
bar:26 color:tan2 from:2002 till:2004 text:New Orleans Hornets
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:3 start:1946
Eastern Conference champions
| Bold | Winning team of the BAA Finals or NBA Finals |
| ^ | Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season |
List of Eastern Conference teams with the most conference championships
- 21: Boston Celtics
- 9: Philadelphia 76ers/Syracuse Nationals
- 8: New York Knicks
- 6: Chicago Bulls
- 5: Detroit Pistons
- 5: Miami Heat
- 5: Cleveland Cavaliers
- 4: Washington/Baltimore Bullets
- 3: Philadelphia Warriors
- 2: New Jersey Nets
- 2: Orlando Magic
- 1: Indiana Pacers
- 1: Milwaukee Bucks
- 1: Toronto Raptors
- 1: Washington Capitols
Season results