National Basketball Association

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This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

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## Contents

* 1 Teams, conferences, and divisions
* 2 League Structure and Playoffs
* 3 Play-in Tournament
* 4 Notes

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is an American-based sports league, considered to be the world's premier professional basketball league. The NBA contains 30 professional basketball teams, 29 in the U.S. and one in Canada.

Currently, the NBA teams are subdivided into two conferences (Eastern and Western) of 15 teams each, and each conference is subdivided into three "divisions" of 5 teams each. A complete list of current teams appears below, along with the conference and division assignment for each team.

In the NBA, games are 48 minutes long, divided into four 12-minute quarters. This is in contrast to the 40-minute game length in other basketball leagues and organizations such as FIBA, the WNBA, and the NCAA.

A player may commit an offensive or defensive personal foul whether or not he or she is on the team handling the ball or guarding the team that is handling the ball. Each player is allowed up to five personal fouls within a game. Upon committing a sixth personal foul, a player is disqualified from playing for the remaining time in the game. This is in contrast to leagues that play 40-minute games, where a player is disqualified upon committing a fifth personal foul within a game.

Acquiring two technical fouls in one game also leads to being kicked out of that game.

Flagrant fouls are a special type of personal foul that is called when the foul is deemed excessively violent by the referees.

## Teams, conferences, and divisions[edit]

The NBA teams template is the catalog of teams, the conference, division, location, and when founded.

Click on a column header to sort the table by that item.

Team | Conference | Division | City | Year founded

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Boston Celtics | Eastern | Atlantic | Boston, Massachusetts | 1946
Brooklyn Nets | Eastern | Atlantic | New York, New York | 1967[1]
New York Knicks | Eastern | Atlantic | New York, New York | 1946
Philadelphia Sixers | Eastern | Atlantic | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | tbd
Toronto Raptors | Eastern | Atlantic | Toronto, Ontario | tbd
Chicago Bulls | Eastern | Central | Chicago, Illinois | tbd
Cleveland Cavaliers | Eastern | Central | Cleveland, Ohio | tbd
Detroit Pistons | Eastern | Central | Detroit, Michigan | tbd
Indiana Pacers | Eastern | Central | Indianapolis, Indiana | tbd
Milwaukee Bucks | Eastern | Central | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | tbd
Atlanta Hawks | Eastern | Southeast | Atlanta, Georgia | tbd
Charlotte Hornets | Eastern | Southeast | Charlotte, North Carolina | tbd
Miami Heat | Eastern | Southeast | Miami, Florida | tbd
Orlando Magic | Eastern | Southeast | Orlando, Florida | tbd
Washington Wizards | Eastern | Southeast | Washington, D.C. | tbd
Denver Nuggets | Western | Northwest | Denver, Colorado | tbd
Minnesota Timberwolves | Western | Northwest | Minneapolis, Minnesota | tbd
Oklahoma City Thunder | Western | Northwest | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | tbd
Portland Trail Blazers | Western | Northwest | Portland, Oregon | tbd
Utah Jazz | Western | Northwest | Salt Lake City, Utah | tbd
Golden State Warriors | Western | Pacific | San Francisco, California | tbd
Los Angeles Clippers | Western | Pacific | Los Angeles, California | tbd
Los Angeles Lakers | Western | Pacific | Los Angeles, California | tbd
Phoenix Suns | Western | Pacific | Phoenix, Arizona | tbd
Sacramento Kings | Western | Pacific | Sacramento, California | tbd
Dallas Mavericks | Western | Southwest | Dallas, Texas | tbd
Houston Rockets | Western | Southwest | Houston, Texas | tbd
Memphis Grizzlies | Western | Southwest | Memphis, Tennessee | tbd
New Orleans Pelicans | Western | Southwest | New Orleans, Louisiana | tbd
San Antonio Spurs | Western | Southwest | San Antonio, Texas | tbd

NOTE: Contents of the above table is from this template.

1. ↑ The Nets, founded in 1967, initially played in Teaneck, New Jersey, as the New Jersey Americans. Then they played in Long Island as the New York Nets for a period, after which they played as the New Jersey Nets in various locations, in including Piscataway and East Rutherford.

## League Structure and Playoffs[edit]

Currently, the NBA teams are subdivided into two conferences (Eastern and Western) of 15 teams each, and each conference is subdivided into three divisions of 5 teams each. The names of the divisions are:

* Eastern Conference: Atlantic, Central, and Southeast
* Western Conference: Northwest, Pacific, and Southwest

The playoffs include 8 teams from each conference. Within each conference, the 8 teams are determined as follows.

* The teams with the six best regular-season win-loss records
* Two additional teams, determined from a "play-in" tournament among the 4 teams with the 7th-through-10th best regular-season win-loss records.

There are four playoff rounds, with each playoff series following a best-of-seven format. The first three rounds are played within each conference and determine the two conference champions. For the final round, the series, referred to as "the finals," is played between the two conference champions.

## Play-in Tournament[edit]

The play-in tournament, started in 2021, is not considered part of either the regular season or the playoffs. Teams in positions 7 through 10 within each conference, as determined by regular-season records, qualify. The format is as follows:

* The teams in positions 7 and 8 play a single game on the home court of the position-7 team. The winner of the game becomes the playoff 7-seed in that team's conference.
* Similarly, the teams in positions 9 and 10 play a single game on the home court of the position-9 team. The loser of the game is eliminated from playoff consideration.
* Finally, the loser of the 7-vs-8 game plays the winner of the 9-vs-10 game in a single game. The game is on the home court of the team in position 7 or 8. The winner becomes the playoff 8-seed in that team's conference.

While not following the more common "first versus worst" seeding format used in many tournaments, its structure does provide an increased advantage to higher-placed teams. To qualify for the playoffs, teams 7 and 8 need only win one game, of a maximum of two, with team 7 enjoying a home-court advantage in each game. Teams 9 and 10 must win two games to qualify, with team 10 playing both its games on the road.

The play-in tournament was designed to increase the importance that teams place on winning games toward the end of the regular season. In seasons prior to the tournament, only teams near positions 8 and 9 in the conference standings were motivated to win in order to make the playoffs. Teams that were eliminated from the playoffs before the season ended had an incentive to lose games in order to increase their likelihood of getting the first pick in the upcoming player draft, or at least to get a higher pick in the draft.

With the tournament in place, teams near positions 6 through 11 are more motivated to win games near the end of the regular season. While not completely eliminating the incentive for lower-placed teams to "tank," this incentive is present for fewer teams than if there were no play-in.

## Notes[edit]