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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]

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The Boston Celtics have won the most championships of any NBA team. Shown are the championship banners hanging in their home arena, TD Garden.

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] 19501952,[6][7][8] 19571970, 19721974, 1976, 1977, 19791984, and since 2014. 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, 19531955, and 19852013,[9][10] in a 1–1–1–1–1–1–1 format in 1956 and 1971,[11][12] and in a 1–2–2–1–1 format in 1975 and 1978.[13][14]

As of 2024, the Eastern champions have a 41–36 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] The 1949–50 Minneapolis Lakers, who won the NBA Finals, are not counted in the Eastern versus Western champions record above as they played in the Central Division.

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Trail Blazers
Trail Blazers
Bullets
Bullets
Bullets*
Bullets*
Knicks
Knicks
76ers
76ers
Warriors
Warriors
Raptors
Raptors
Celtics
Celtics
Spurs
Spurs
Heat
Heat
Nats
Nats
Bulls
Bulls
Bucks
Bucks
Mavericks
Mavericks
Rockets
Rockets
Pistons
Pistons
Lakers
Lakers
Hawks
Hawks
Royals
Royals
Cavaliers
Cavaliers
SuperSonics
SuperSonics
Warriors
Warriors
Nuggets
Nuggets
Lakers
Lakers
Location of NBA champions by number of titles: 1 – white, 2 – blue, 3 – green, 4 – yellow, 5 – orange, 6 – red, 7 or more – purple, * – denotes defunct
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Champions

  • 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
More information Year, Western champion ...
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Results by team

More information Team, Win ...
TeamWinLossApps PctYear(s) wonYear(s) lost
Boston Celtics18523 .7831957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986, 2008, 20241958, 1985, 1987, 2010, 2022
Los Angeles Lakers[i]171532 .5311949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 20201959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991, 2004, 2008
Golden State Warriors[ii]7512 .5831947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2017, 2018, 20221948, 1964, 1967, 2016, 2019
Chicago Bulls606 1.0001991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
San Antonio Spurs516 .8331999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 20142013
Philadelphia 76ers[iii]369 .3331955, 1967, 19831950, 1954, 1977, 1980, 1982, 2001
Detroit Pistons[iv]347 .4291989, 1990, 20041955, 1956, 1988, 2005
Miami Heat347 .4292006, 2012, 20132011, 2014, 2020, 2023
New York Knicks268 .2501970, 19731951, 1952, 1953, 1972, 1994, 1999
Houston Rockets224 .5001994, 19951981, 1986
Milwaukee Bucks213 .6671971, 20211974
Cleveland Cavaliers145 .20020162007, 2015, 2017, 2018
Atlanta Hawks[v]134 .25019581957, 1960, 1961
Washington Wizards[vi]134 .25019781971, 1975, 1979
Oklahoma City Thunder[vii]134 .25019791978, 1996, 2012
Portland Trail Blazers123 .33319771990, 1992
Dallas Mavericks123 .33320112006, 2024
Baltimore Bullets (original) (folded in 1954)[viii]101 1.0001948
Sacramento Kings[ix]101 1.0001951
Toronto Raptors101 1.0002019
Denver Nuggets101 1.0002023
Phoenix Suns033 .0001976, 1993, 2021
Utah Jazz022 .0001997, 1998
Brooklyn Nets[x]022 .0002002, 2003
Orlando Magic022 .0001995, 2009
Chicago Stags (folded in 1950)011 .0001947
Washington Capitols (folded in 1951)011 .0001949
Indiana Pacers011 .0002000
Charlotte Hornets
Los Angeles Clippers
Memphis Grizzlies
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
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  1. Includes record as Minneapolis Lakers
  2. Includes record as Philadelphia and San Francisco Warriors
  3. Includes record as Syracuse Nationals
  4. Includes record as Fort Wayne Pistons
  5. Includes record as St. Louis Hawks
  6. Includes record as Baltimore and Washington Bullets
  7. Includes record as Seattle SuperSonics
  8. Not affiliated with the present-day Washington Wizards, known as the Baltimore Bullets from 1963 to 1973.
  9. Includes record as Rochester Royals
  10. Includes record as New York and New Jersey Nets
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Consecutive championships

Eight consecutive

Three consecutive

Two consecutive

Frequent matchups

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See also

Notes

  1. The Finals MVP Award was first awarded in 1969.
  2. 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]
  3. The trophy was renamed for Walter A. Brown.
  4. The trophy was replaced by a new design.[50][51]
  5. The trophy was renamed for Larry O'Brien.
  6. After a lockout, the season started on February 5, 1999, and all 29 teams played a shortened 50-game regular season schedule.[74]
  7. After a lockout, the season started on December 25, 2011, and all 30 teams played a shortened 66-game regular season schedule.[88][89]
  8. 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]
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References

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