Throughout more than 76 seasons, the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
(NBA) has had many intense
rivalries
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...
. This article lists some of the famous rivalries in the NBA. Rivalries are classified into three primary groups; intradivisional, interdivisional, and interconference.
Interconference rivalries comprise games between opponents in different
conferences
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...
. A team plays each opponent from the other conference in one home game and one away game.
Intradivisional rivalries comprise games between opponents in the same
division. Since the
2004–05 NBA season, there are 30 teams in six divisions of 5 teams each. Each team plays each division opponent 4 times during the regular season (twice at home, twice away) for a total of 16 games out of 82 total regular season games.
Interdivisional rivalries comprise games between opponents in different divisions but within the same conference. A team plays against each team from the other two divisions in its conference either three or four times. The total interdivisional games an NBA team plays is 36. Conference games are often important, as a team's record in common games, as well as its overall record against its conference, are sometimes used as tiebreakers for playoff seeding at the end of the regular season. Also, many regular season opponents have met again in the playoffs, and the result of a regular season game can affect where the playoff game will be played.
Interconference rivalries
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Cavaliers–Warriors rivalry
The Cavaliers–Warriors rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. The rivalry primarily focuses on the four consecutive NBA Finals appearances between the two teams ...
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Celtics–Lakers rivalry
The Celtics–Lakers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics and the Lakers are the two most storied franchises in the NBA, and the rivalry has often been calle ...
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Lakers–Pistons rivalry
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
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76ers–Celtics rivalry
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Celtics–Knicks rivalry
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Knicks–Nets rivalry
The Knicks–Nets rivalry is a crosstown rivalry between New York City's two National Basketball Association (NBA) teams: the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets. Both teams compete in Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The New York ...
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Nets–Raptors rivalry
Central Division
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Bulls–Cavaliers rivalry
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Bulls–Pistons rivalry
Southeast Division
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Heat–Magic rivalry
Interdivisional
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Bulls–Knicks rivalry
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Celtics–Pistons rivalry
The Celtics–Pistons rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons. The two teams played each other in the NBA playoffs five times from 1985 to 1991, with Boston winning in 1985 a ...
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Heat–Knicks rivalry
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Knicks–Pacers rivalry
Western Conference
Pacific Division
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Lakers–Clippers rivalry
The Lakers–Clippers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Ba ...
Southwest Division
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Mavericks–Spurs rivalry
The Mavericks–Spurs rivalry is an NBA rivalry between the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. It is an intense rivalry that often features contested games. It is also known as the I-35 Rivalry since San Antonio and Dallas lie on Inters ...
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Rockets–Spurs rivalry
The Rockets–Spurs rivalry is an NBA rivalry between the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs. It is considered one of the most bitter rivalries in the league due to both teams being in the same division, contested games, and close proximit ...
Interdivisional
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Jazz–Rockets rivalry
The Jazz–Rockets rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets. The rivalry began in the 1990s when the Rockets, led by dominant center Hakeem Olajuwon and college teammate Clyde Drexle ...
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Lakers–Spurs rivalry
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Spurs–Suns rivalry
The Spurs–Suns rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns. It began in the 1990s, when the Spurs were led by David Robinson, and the Phoenix Suns were propelled by a number of p ...
See also
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Major League Baseball rivalries
Throughout its history, Major League Baseball rivalries have occurred between many teams and cities. Rivalries have arisen for many different reasons, the primary ones including geographic proximity, familiarity with opponents, various incidents, ...
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MLS rivalry cups
In Major League Soccer, several teams annually compete for secondary rivalry cups that are usually contested by only two teams, with the only exceptions being the Cascadia Cup and the new Copa Tejas, which are contested by three MLS teams, each. E ...
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National Football League rivalries
As with all sports leagues, there are a number of significant rivalries between teams and notable players in the National Football League (NFL). Rivalries are occasionally created due to a particular event that causes bad blood between teams, pla ...
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National Hockey League rivalries
Rivalries in the National Hockey League have occurred between many teams and cities. Rivalries have arisen among NHL teams for many different reasons, the primary ones including geographic proximity, familiarity with opponents, on-ice incidents, a ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Basketball Association Rivalries
Rivalries
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...