What Teams Are In The Nba Playoffs This Year?

It’s that time of year again! The NBA playoffs are just around the corner, and we can’t wait to see which teams will be fighting for the championship title. So, without further ado, here are the teams that are in the playoffs this year.

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference playoff race is wide open this year. The Milwaukee Bucks are the top seed, but the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, and Boston Celtics are all within striking distance. The East is going to be a battle all season long.

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 Celtics are one of the two charter BAA franchises still playing in their original city today.

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 club of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games at the Scotiabank Arena, which they share with the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs. 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 NBA team.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers (often referred to as the Sixers) are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division and play at Wells Fargo Center. Founded in 1946 and originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA, and one of only eight (out of 23) to survive the league’s first decade.

Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league’s Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first established in 1967 as a member of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and became a member of the NBA in 1976 as a result of the ABA–NBA merger. They play their home games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The team is named after Indiana’s history with the Indianapolis 500’s pace cars and with the harness racing pacers that raced at the State Fairgrounds.

Western Conference

There are 8 teams in the Western Conference that have made it to the NBA playoffs this year. They are the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, and the LA Clippers.

Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are a 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 won five NBA championships dating back to 1947, when the franchise was known as the Philadelphia Warriors. Led by All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the Warriors returned to the NBA Finals in consecutive seasons from 2014–2017 and won their third title in 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 due to struggling attendance and revenue in San Diego. The Rockets won only 15 games in their debut season as a franchise in 1967. In the 1968 NBA draft, the Rockets, picking first overall, selected power forward Elvin Hayes, who would lead the team to its first playoff appearance in his rookie season. The Rockets did not finish a season with a winning record until the 1976–77 season when they traded for center Moses Malone. Malone went on to win the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award twice and led Houston to the conference finals in his first year with the team.

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are a professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays its home games at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Thunder were originally the Seattle SuperSonics, an expansion team that began play in 1967. The SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 after a dispute over arena funding with the city of Seattle. The team itself remained in Seattle, and became the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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 played its home games in the Memorial Coliseum before moving to Moda Center in 1995 (formerly known as the Rose Garden).

The team has advanced to the NBA Finals three times, winning the NBA championship in 1977. Their other NBA Finals appearances were in 1990 and 1992. The team has qualified for the playoffs in 34 seasons of their 48-season existence, including a streak of 21 straight appearances from 1983 through 2003, tied for [the second longest active streak](https://www.basketball-reference.com/about/active_streaks.html) at the time and behind only the 16-season streaks held by the [Los Angeles Lakers](https://www.basketball-reference.com/about/active_streaks.html) and [San Antonio Spurs](https://www.basketball-reference.com/about/active_streaks.html). They missed the playoffs from 2005 through 2011.

Portland has been home to two NBA franchises:
the [Portland Trail Blazers](https://www.nba.com/blazers/) (1970–present), who play at Moda Center; and
the [Portland Rosebuds / Rexall Drillers ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Rosebuds_(ABL)) (1946–47), who played at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Trail Blazers are owned by Paul Allen. And Neil Olshey is their general manager.