New NBA divisions for 2004-05 season. Back in November
of 2003, the NBA approved re-alignment for next season. There will be six NBA
divisions. Here's the info, in case you missed it the first time around:
The NBA Board of Governors has approved a realignment plan that will take effect
with the start of the 2004-05 season, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced.
NBA teams will be in six new NBA divisions.
The NBA’s newest member, the Charlotte Bobcats will tip-off its inaugural season
as part of the Eastern Conference while the New Orleans Hornets will move from
the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference. Each conference will now have
a total of 15 teams with three divisions of five teams. There will still be two
conferences, East and West. The new NBA team divisions for 2004-05 are:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic
Central
Southeast
Boston Celtics
New Jersey Nets
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers
Toronto Raptors
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Bobcats
Miami Heat
Orlando Magic
Washington Wizards
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest
Northwest
Pacific
Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
Memphis Grizzlies
New Orleans Hornets
San Antonio Spurs
Pacific Division: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles
Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings
Under the new plan, teams will play divisional opponents four times each (two
home games/two road games), conference opponents outside the division three or
four times each and opponents outside the conference two times each (one home
game/one road game). The three regular season divisional winners in each conference
will earn a playoff berth and one of the conference’s top three playoff seeds
based on regular season record. The remaining five playoff berths for each conference
will be based on regular season records with no regard to divisional alignment.
Home court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs will be based solely on regular
season record, not playoff seeding, thus a divisional winner that has a higher
playoff seed than an opponent will not necessarily have home court advantage in
the playoff series.