What NBA Teams Are Still In The Playoffs?

It’s down to the wire and only a handful of NBA teams are still in the running for the championship title. Who are the contenders and what are their chances?

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference is still represented by the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Boston Celtics. These four teams have fought their way to the top and will continue to do so in the hopes of making it to the NBA Finals.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and play at the Fiserv Forum. Former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl was the long-time owner of the team, but on April 16, 2014, a group led by billionaire hedge fund managers Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry agreed to purchase a majority interest in the team from Kohl, a sale which was approved by the league on May 15. The new owners announced that they would move the Bucks back to Milwaukee; they also reached an agreement with Wisconsin state and local officials on financing for a new arena to replace the BMO Harris Bradley Center, which would become the largest ever public investment in Wisconsin at $250 million.

Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. The team was founded in 1995 as part of the NBA’s expansion into Canada, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies. Since the 2001–02 season, the Raptors have been the only Canadian-based team in the league, as the Grizzlies relocated from Vancouver to Memphis, Tennessee.

The Raptors originally played their home games at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre), before moving eastward to the Air Canada Centre in 1999. Following the conclusion of the 2018–19 season, Marc Gasol and Kawhi Leonard left via free agency respectively, signing with the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers respectively.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division and play at Wells Fargo Center.

The 76ers organization was founded in 1946 as the Syracuse Nationals. They were one of eight charter franchises of the NBA, and are one of only two (the other being the Golden State Warriors) to survive the league’s first decade. They subsequently joined the NBA in 1949 as part of the merger between the BAA and NBL, and reached the playoffs in 1955 despite finishing only four games above .500 (37–43). After winning their conference title in 1966–67, they reached each year’s NBA Finals until 1975, losing to the Western Conference teams each time. Their early rivalry with The Spectrum’s Philadelphia Warriors resulted in several playoff series, including a memorable conference finals matchup in 1977 won by Darryl Dawkins and Stan Brown known as “The Dunk” on YouTube.

Following an initial period of mediocrity mixed with occasional success, success truly began to materialize for them throughout much of the 1980s–2001, culminating in reaching their first NBA Finals victory while led by Hall-of-famers Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson. They then went thru a rebuilding process throughout much of mindful of 2001–2012 led by all-star point guard Jrue Holiday which culminated with another playoff berth this season under second-year head coach Brett Brown who has dramatically improved their win-loss record from 18 wins last season to 34 wins this season clinching their first playoff berth since 2012 led by young star center Joel Embiid who was drafted third overall pick in 2014 but only made his regular season debut this year due to missing his prior 2 seasons due to injury along with versatile forward Robert Covington & rookie point guard Ben Simmons who was drafted 1st overall pick last year but missed entire rookie season due to injury whom have been leading them into making significant strides towards becoming a dominant Eastern Conference powerhouse again for years to come.

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. The Celtics play their home games at TD Garden, which they share with the National Hockey League (NHL)’s Boston Bruins. The franchise is owned by billionaire James Breyer.

Founded in 1946 as one of the league’s original eight teams, the team played their home games at Boston Arena until 1952, followed by the Boston Garden from 1952 to 1995. The Celtics won their first championship in 1957 with the help of center Bill Russell. The franchise went on to win an impressive 11 NBA titles over a span of 13 seasons with stars such as John Havlicek and Larry Bird leading the way, making them one of the most successful teams in NBA history.

Western Conference

There are only four teams remaining in the Western Conference playoffs. The Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Denver Nuggets. All four teams are fighting for a chance to make it to the NBA Finals.

Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. The Warriors have reached nine NBA Finals, winning five NBA championships in 1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, and 2017.

Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets are a professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Center, located in downtown Houston. The Rockets have won two NBA championships and four Western Conference titles. The team was established as the San Diego Rockets, an expansion team originally based in San Diego, in 1967. In 1971, the Rockets moved to Houston.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Northwest Division. The franchise was founded in 1970, and played its home games in Memorial Coliseum before moving to Moda Center in 1995. The team has advanced to the NBA Finals three times, winning the NBA championship once in 1977. Their other NBA Finals appearances were in 1990 and 1992. The team has qualified for the playoffs in 34 seasons of their 49-season existence, including a streak of 21 straight appearances from 1983 through 2003, tied for the second longest streak in NBA history.

The Trail Blazers’ 34 playoff appearances rank third in the NBA only behind the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs since the team’s establishment in 1970. Six Hall of Fame players have played for the Trail Blazers (Lenny Wilkens, Bill Walton, Clyde Drexler, Dražen Petrović, Arvydas Sabonis, and Scottie Pippen). Bill Walton is the franchise’s most decorated player; he was awarded the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), Finals MVP, All-Star Game MVP, and one of only five players to win all four awards en route to leading Portland to its only NBA Championship in 1977.

Denver Nuggets

The 2019-20 NBA season was originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. However, the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season resumed on July 30, 2020 and is currently ongoing.

As of September 23, 2020, the Denver Nuggets are one of the Western Conference teams still in the playoffs. The other teams are the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks.