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13-665: Initially, the BAA teams were aligned into the Eastern Division and the Western Division. The Divisional Finals were first played in 1949 , the league's third season. The first two seasons used a playoffs format where Eastern and Western Division teams would face each other before the BAA Finals. Hence, there were no divisional finals. In the 1949–50 season , the league realigned itself to three divisions, with

26-626: A best-of-7 series since 1957. The conference finals are currently played in a best-of-7 series like the NBA playoffs and Finals. The two series are played in late May each year after the first and second rounds of the Playoffs and before the Finals. After the conference finals, winners are presented with a silver trophy, caps, and T-shirts and advance to the NBA Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers have won

39-693: Is quartered into four sections, representing the winning team first qualifying for the playoffs and then advancing through the three playoff rounds. In that same year, the NBA began awarding Conference Finals MVPs to the best-performing player of each Conference Finals: the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award and the Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award , named for

52-758: The Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans , have never appeared in the conference finals. The NBA first awarded conference championship trophies in 2001. In 2022, both were redesigned, and named the Bob Cousy Trophy for the Eastern Conference and the Oscar Robertson Trophy for the Western Conference, in honor of two men who were instrumental in developing and advancing the players' labor union,

65-558: The National Basketball Players Association . The two redesigned trophies each feature a silver basketball with its respective conference finals logo on the underside. The trophies also have a slightly different base for each conference to help distinguish one from the other; the silver basketball on the Eastern Conference trophy sits on three pegs, while the Western Conference trophy has the basketball on intercrossing circular rings. The silver basketball

78-742: The "Season(s)" column, bold years indicate winning conference finals appearances. 1948%E2%80%9349 BAA season The 1948–49 BAA season was the third and final season of the Basketball Association of America . The 1949 BAA Playoffs ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the BAA Championship, beating the Washington Capitols in six games in the BAA Finals . The NBA recognizes

91-516: The 1969–70 season, league leaders in points and assists were determined by totals rather than averages. 1949 BAA Playoffs The 1949 BAA playoffs was the postseason tournament following the Basketball Association of America 1948–49 season , its third and last. Later that year the BAA and National Basketball League merged to create the National Basketball Association or NBA. The tournament concluded with

104-511: The Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Division champion Washington Capitols 4 games to 2 in the BAA Finals . The eight qualified teams began tournament play on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 22 and 23, and the Finals concluded on Wednesday, April 13. Minneapolis and Washington played 10 and 11 games in a span of 22 days; their six final games in ten days. Prior to their final series, however, Minneapolis had been idle for five days, Washington for only one day. This

117-492: The addition of the Central Division. However, the arrangement was only used for one season, and the league returned to the two-division format in 1951 . The two divisions' format remained until 1970 when the NBA realigned itself into two conferences with two divisions each, which led to the renaming to conference finals. The finals were a best-of-3 series from 1949 to 1950, a best-of-5 series from 1951 to 1956, and

130-624: The most conference titles with 19. They have also made 24 appearances in the conference finals, more than any other team, which included eight consecutive appearances in the Western Conference finals from 1982 to 1989. The Boston Celtics have won 11 conference championships, the second most of any team. 23 of the 30 active franchises have won at least one conference title. The Minnesota Timberwolves , Atlanta Hawks , Sacramento Kings , Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers have each played in at least one conference finals, but have failed to win their respective conference title. Two other franchises,

143-406: The three BAA seasons as part of its own history so the 1948–49 BAA season is considered the third NBA season. Following the season, the BAA and National Basketball League merged to create the National Basketball Association or NBA. Four National Basketball League teams (Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Rochester) joined the BAA for the 1948–49 season. Note: Prior to

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156-671: The two players credited for building the league up to greater popularity in the 1980s. The MVP trophies follow a design similar to that of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy, only smaller, and the ball on each trophy is silver, instead of gold, and follows the Conference Championship trophies in how it sits on the base. Stats updated through May 30, 2024 In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of appearances, then by number of wins, and finally by year of first appearance. In

169-472: Was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bullets winning the first meeting. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This

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