Who is Playing in the NBA Today?
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Keep up with who is playing in the NBA today with our handy guide. We’ll tell you which teams are playing and where you can watch the games.
The teams
The NBA today features 30 teams, 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. Of these 30 teams, 20 make the playoffs. The playoffs are a best-of-seven series between the top eight teams in each conference.
The Eastern Conference
The Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of two conferences that makes up the league, the other being the Western Conference. Like the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference is made up of 15 teams, organized in three divisions. The current divisional alignment was introduced in 2004.
The conference has been home to many of the NBA’s biggest stars, including Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant. It has also been home to NBA Champions like the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls.
The Eastern Conference is currently led by the Toronto Raptors, who are the defending NBA Champions.
The Western Conference
The Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of two conferences that makes up the league, the other being the Eastern Conference. Like the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference is made up of 15 teams, organized in three divisions.
The 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 created a new division named the Southeast Division. As a result of a realignment plan approved by the NBA Board of Governors on April 15, 2013, starting with the 2013–14 season, three divisions in each conference were renamed: The Southwest Division became the Pacific Division, and the Northwest Division became both Central Division (in line with most other major professional sports leagues) and South which had been used in some capacity previously by college athletics conference realignments.
As of 2019, there are 2 former divisions located entirely within one country (Canada), and 2 former divisions located entirely within one state (California).
The players
The starters
The starters for the NBA today are Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. These are the five players who will be playing in the game today.
The bench players
The role of a bench player has changed over the years from “super sub” to key contributor. In fact, most NBA teams now have what is called a “sixth man” who is the first player off the bench. This player is usually someone who can come in and score points or provide a spark for the team. Some of the best players in the NBA have been bench players at some point in their careers. Here are some of the best bench players in the NBA today.
-Enes Kanter, New York Knicks
-Jamal Crawford, Minnesota Timberwolves
-Kelly Olynyk, Miami Heat
-Jordan Clarkson, Cleveland Cavaliers
-Derrick Rose, Minnesota Timberwolves
