Eastern Conference (NBA)

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. 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.

2024–25 standings

Notes
* c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
* y – Clinched division title
* pi – Clinched play-in tournament spot (locked into a play-in spot but not able to clinch a playoff spot directly)
* x – Clinched playoff spot
* * – Division leader

Teams

Former teams

;Notes
* denotes an expansion team.
* denotes a team that merged from the American Basketball Association (ABA).

Team timeline

DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25
Period = from:1970 till:2020
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:60 left:20 bottom:20 top:0

Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white

PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:Atlanta Hawks (1970–present)
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:Boston Celtics (1970–present)
bar:3 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1978 text: Buffalo Braves (1970–1978)
bar:4 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1972 text: Cincinnati Royals (1970–1972)
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:Cleveland Cavaliers (1970–present)
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text: New York Knicks (1970–present)
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text: Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers (1970–present)
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text: Baltimore Bullets / Capital Bullets / Washington Bullets / Washington Wizards (1970–present)
bar:9 color:tan2 from:1972 till:1980 text: Houston Rockets (1972–1980)
bar:10 color:tan2 from:1974 till:1979 text: New Orleans Jazz (1974–1979)
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1976 till:end text: New York Nets / New Jersey Nets / Brooklyn Nets (1976–present)
bar:12 color:tan2 from:1976 till:1980 text: San Antonio Spurs (1976–1980)
bar:13 color:tan1 from:1978 till:end text: Detroit Pistons (1978–present)
bar:14 color:tan1 from:1979 till:end text: Indiana Pacers (1979–present)
bar:15 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end text: Chicago Bulls (1980–present)
bar:16 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end text: Milwaukee Bucks (1980–present)
bar:17 color:tan1 from:1988 till:1989 text: Charlotte Hornets / Bobcats / Hornets (1988–2002, 2004–2014, 2014–present)
bar:17 color:tan1 from:1990 till:2002
bar:17 color:tan1 from:2004 till:end
bar:18 color:tan1 from:1989 till:end text: Miami Heat (1989–present)
bar:19 color:tan1 from:1989 till:1990 text: Orlando Magic (1989–1990, 1991–present)
bar:19 color:tan1 from:1991 till:end
bar:20 color:tan1 from:1995 till:end text: Toronto Raptors (1995–present)
bar:21 color:tan2 from:2002 till:2004 text: New Orleans Hornets (2002–2004)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:3 start:1970

Conference champions

Conference championships by team

Season results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastern Conference (Nba)

NBA