The Southwest Division is one of the three divisions in the Western Conference of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball 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 in the United St ...

(NBA). Despite its name, the division is actually located in the

South Central United States The South Central United States or South Central states is a region in the south central portion of the Southern United States. It evolved out of the Old Southwest, which originally was the western portion of the South. The states of Arkansas, ...

. The division consists of five teams, the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Rockets, the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

, the New Orleans Pelicans and the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

. Three of the teams, the Mavericks, Rockets, and Spurs, are based in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Consisting of some of the most historically competitive teams in the NBA's Western Conference, the division was created at the start of the 2004–05 season, when the league expanded from 29 to 30 teams with the addition of the

Charlotte Bobcats Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populou ...

. The league realigned itself into three divisions in each conference. The Southwest Division began with five inaugural members, the Mavericks, the Rockets, the Grizzlies, the Hornets (now Pelicans) and the Spurs. The Mavericks, the Rockets, the Grizzlies and the Spurs joined from the now-defunct Midwest Division, while the Pelicans joined from the Central Division. The Spurs have been dominant since the division's inaugural season, having won the most Southwest Division titles with nine. The Rockets have won four, the Mavericks have won three, and the Pelicans and Grizzlies have each won one title. Four NBA champions came from the Southwest Division. The Spurs won the NBA championship in 2005, 2007 and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, while the Mavericks won in 2011. In the 2007–08 season, all four teams that qualified for the playoffs each had more than 50 wins. In the 2010–11 season and the 2014–15 season, all teams in the division had winning percentages above 0.500 (50%). In the 2014–15 season, the Southwest Division saw every one of its teams making the playoffs, a feat achieved only twice in the last 30 years. The most recent division champions are the Memphis Grizzlies. Starting with the 2021–22 season, the Southwest Division champions would receive the Willis Reed Trophy, named after Hall of Famer

Willis Reed Willis Reed Jr. (born June 25, 1942) is an American retired basketball player, coach and general manager. He spent his entire professional playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Me ...

Current standings

Teams

Division champions

Division Titles by team

Season results

Rivalries

Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs

Notes

* The New Orleans Hornets temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City due to the effect of Hurricane Katrina. The majority of home games were played in Oklahoma City, while a few remained in New Orleans. * Because of a lockout, the season did not start until December 25, 2011, and all 30 teams played a shortened 66-game regular season schedule. * Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the 82-game regular season schedule was cancelled on March 11, 2020. The season was restarted on July 30 under an eight-game seeding format in the

2020 NBA Bubble The 2020 NBA Bubble, also referred to as the Disney Bubble or the Orlando Bubble, was the bio-secure bubble at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, that was created by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to protect its p ...

to conclude the regular season and determine playoff berths. Games were played inside the

ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort, in Bay Lake, Florida, Bay Lake, Florida, United States, near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The complex includes ni ...

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

in Orlando, Florida. * Season shortened to 72 games due to

References

;General * ;Specific

External links

NBA.com Team Index
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southwest Division (Nba) Western Conference (NBA) National Basketball Association divisions Dallas Mavericks Houston Rockets Memphis Grizzlies New Orleans Pelicans San Antonio Spurs Sports in the Western United States Sports in the Southern United States he:מבנה ה-NBA#הבית הדרום מערבי