Atlantic Division

Atlantic Division

The Atlantic Division is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams, the Boston Celtics, the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors. All teams except the Raptors are located on the East Coast of the United States. However, Toronto sports teams have had rivalries over the years with teams in the northeastern United States (notably, Toronto teams also share divisions with Boston and New York teams in Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. The division was created at the start of the 1970-1971 season, when the league expanded from 14 to 17 teams with the addition of the Buffalo Braves, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trail Blazers. The league reorganized itself into two conferences, the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference, with two divisions in each conference. The Atlantic Division started with four inaugural members, the Celtics, the Braves, the Knicks and the 76ers. The Celtics, the Knicks and the 76ers all came from the Eastern Division. The Celtics have won the most Atlantic Division titles. Of the 22, the Celtics have won 17 championships, while the 76ers have won 3, the Knicks two, and the Toronto Raptors achieved their first Finals win in the 2018-2019 season. Except for the 1972-1973 Knicks, they were all division champions. In the 1983-84 season, all five teams in the division qualified for the playoffs. In the 1982-1983 season, all teams in the division had winning percentages above 0.500 (50%). The current division champion is the Toronto Raptors, their seventh division title.