National Basketball Association rivalries
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Throughout more than 76 seasons, 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 S ...
(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 pu ...
. 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 Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
. Since the
2004–05 NBA season The 2004–05 NBA season was the 59th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It began on November 2, 2004 and ended June 23, 2005. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs defeating the defending-champion Detroit Pistons, 4–3, i ...
, 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 te ...
* Celtics–Lakers rivalry * Lakers–Pistons rivalry


Eastern Conference


Atlantic Division

* 76ers–Celtics rivalry * Celtics–Knicks rivalry * Knicks–Nets rivalry * Nets–Raptors rivalry


Central Division

*
Bulls–Cavaliers rivalry The Bulls–Cavaliers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls. The teams have played each other since the Cavaliers joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1970, but the ...
* Bulls–Pistons rivalry


Southeast Division

* Heat–Magic rivalry


Interdivisional

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Bulls–Knicks rivalry The Bulls–Knicks rivalry is a rivalry between the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The two basketball teams have played each other every year since the Bulls first joined the NBA in 1966. The ...
* Celtics–Pistons rivalry * Heat–Knicks rivalry * 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 and Los Angeles Clippers. The two Pacific Division teams both play their home games at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, inspiring ...


Southwest Division

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Mavericks–Spurs rivalry The Mavericks–Spurs rivalry is an National Basketball Association, NBA National Basketball Association rivalries, rivalry between the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. It is an intense rivalry that often features contested games. It ...
* Rockets–Spurs rivalry


Interdivisional

* Jazz–Rockets rivalry *
Lakers–Spurs rivalry The Lakers–Spurs rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs. The rivalry started in the late 1970s and peaked in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since 1999, the teams have ...
* Spurs–Suns rivalry


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. Ea ...
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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 ...
*
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 ...
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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 ...