Atlantic Division (NBA)
| Conference | Eastern Conference |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Inaugural season | 1970–71 season |
| Teams | |
| No. of teams | 5 |
| Championships | |
| Most recent Atlantic Division champion(s) |
Toronto Raptors (4th title) |
| Most Atlantic Division titles |
Boston Celtics (21 titles) |
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 over the years enjoyed rivalries with teams in the Northeastern United States (particularly, Toronto teams also share divisions with Boston teams in Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, with the former also containing a team in New York City).
The division was created at the start of the 1970–71 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 realigned itself into two conferences, the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference, with two divisions in each conference. The Atlantic Division began with four inaugural members, the Celtics, the Braves, the Knicks and the 76ers. The Celtics, the Knicks and the 76ers all joined from the Eastern Division.
The Celtics have won the most Atlantic Division titles with 21. The 76ers have won the second most titles with five. Eight NBA champions came from the Atlantic Division. The Celtics won six championships, while the Knicks and the 76ers won one championship each. All of them, except the 1972–73 Knicks, were division champions. In the 1983–84 season, all five teams from the division qualified for the playoffs. In the 1982–83 season, all teams in the division had winning percentages above 0.500 (50%). The current division champion is the Toronto Raptors.
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