What NBA Teams Are Playing Right Now?

Keep up with the latest NBA action by checking out our list of which teams are playing right now.

The NBA Finals

The NBA Finals are the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The winning team of the series receives the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

The Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference in the Pacific Division. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, an arena shared with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and fellow Western Conference team, the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, and have won 16 NBA championships, their last being in 2010.

As of 2019, the Lakers have gained a total of 31 playoff appearances. Out of those 31 playoff appearances, they have managed to make it to the NBA Finals 15 times, winning 11 championships along the way. They have also appeared in 21 Finals series overall, which is second only to the Boston Celtics who have made it to finals 34 times.

The Miami Heat

The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Southeast Division. They play their home games at American Airlines Arena, and have won three NBA championships.

The franchise began play in the 1988–89 NBA season as an expansion team. Headed by shooting guard Dwyane Wade and point guard Goran Dragić, they qualified for the playoffs in their first season, but lost in the first round to the Charlotte Hornets. The Heat struggled through most of their early years, but following the hiring of head coach Pat Riley and center Alonzo Mourning’s arrival via trade in 1995, they made playoff appearances every year until 2008–09, winning their first division title in 1997–98 along with securing a then-franchise record 61 wins during the 2000–01 season.

After losing in the Eastern Conference Finals that year to the Milwaukee Bucks led by small forwardglen Robinson III, Mourning was forced out of action due to a kidney illness. As a result, veteran center Shaquille O’Neal was acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers, and teamed up with Wade to lead Miami on a 27 game winning streak that proved to be a prelude to their first ever NBA championship that season. The resulting victory disappointed many long time Miami fans who were hoping for a more competitive series. In

2007, they would face off against the Dallas Mavericks led by power forward Dirk Nowitzki in what turned out to be one of the most lopsided Finals in NBA history with Dallas cruising to a 4-2 victory. After losing Game 6 at home despite leading by as many as 13 points early on, Wade responded by scoring 36 points and hauling down 10 rebounds in Game 7 on the road to give Miami their 2nd straight title., dragging down 10 rebounds for his 6th double-double of the series

The Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference is made up of fifteen teams, all battling it out for a chance to compete in the NBA Finals. The teams are the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, and Washington Wizards.

The Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of the league’s original eight teams, the team played its home games at Boston Garden from 1946 to 1952. The Celtics won their first championship in 1957. Since winning their 16th NBA championship in 2008, the Celtics have made the playoffs 10 times. They have won seven Eastern Conference championships (1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, and 2008). The Celtics have played their home games at TD Garden since 1999. The franchise has employed a total of 22 head coaches since joining the NBA; current head coach Brad Stevens is the franchise’s most recent titleholder.

The Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member club of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They were established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA’s expansion into Canada. When the Grizzlies relocated to Memphis, Tennessee to become the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001, the Raptors became the only Canadian-based team in the NBA.

The Raptors play their home games at the Scotiabank Arena, which they share with the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Toronto Maple Leafs. The team was founded by Chicago sports businessman John Bitove and Irving Gerstein. In 1995, they acquired a franchise Expansion Fee of $125 million from NBA owners and held a contest to name their team. The most popular choice was “Wildcats”, but after voting by sports commentators and fans careered towards “Raptors”.

In their 24 years of existence, they have qualified for the playoffs nine times, won five Atlantic Division championships, and three times as division runners-up. As division champions or division runners-up they have advanced to eight Eastern Conference Semifinals since 2001 but failed to make it past conference semifinals. In 2019 they won their first NBA championship defeating Golden State Warriors in six games during the NBA Finals.

The Western Conference

The Western Conference is made up of fifteen teams, playing a total of 82 regular season games. The conference is split into two divisions: the Southwest and the Northwest. During the regular season, each team plays four games against division opponents and three games against non-division opponents.

The Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA), but changed its name to Rockets before the first season. It changed its name again to the Nuggets in 1974. After the name change, the Nuggets played for the final ABA Championship title in 1976, losing to the New York Nets.

The team has had some periods of success, qualifying for the ABA Playoffs for all seasons from 1967 to the 1976 ABA playoffs where it lost in the finals. The team joined the NBA in 1976 after the ABA–NBA merger and qualified for their first NBA playoffs appearance in 1977. More success followed through 1983, including conference titles in 1981 and 1983 with players such as Alex English and Dan Issel leading them, but failed to advance past 2nd round of playoffs both times. In 1985, they drafted center–forward Dikembe Mutombo, who was named Defensive Player of
the Year and eventually led Denver to their first-ever Conference Finals appearance in 2009.

The Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. The franchise was founded in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves, one of three expansion teams to join the NBA that year. The Braves moved from Buffalo, New York to San Diego, California in 1978 and became known as the San Diego Clippers. In 1984, The Clippers moved to Los Angeles.