# Eastern Division (NBA)

The Eastern Division was a division in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and its forerunner, the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The division was created at the start of the 1946–47 BAA season, when the league was created, and was then kept as one of the divisions when BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to create the NBA on August 3, 1949. The division existed until the 1970–71 NBA season when the NBA expanded from 14 to 17 teams and realigned into the Eastern and Western conferences with two divisions each.

## Teams

| Team | City | Year | From | Year | To | Current division |
| Team | City | Joined | Joined | Left | Left | | Current division |
| Baltimore Bullets (original) | Baltimore, Maryland | 1948 | Western Division | 1954 | Folded | — |
| Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) | Baltimore, Maryland | 1966 | Western Division | 1970 | Central Division | Southeast Division |
| Boston Celtics | Boston, Massachusetts | 1946 | § | 1970 | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division |
| Cincinnati Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) | Cincinnati, Ohio | 1962 | Western Division | 1970 | Central Division | Pacific Division |
| Detroit Pistons | Detroit, Michigan | 1967 | Western Division | 1970 | Midwest Division | Central Division |
| Milwaukee Bucks | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 1968 | —† | 1970 | Midwest Division | Central Division |
| New York Knicks | New York City, New York | 1946 | § | 1970 | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division |
| Syracuse Nationals (1949–1963) Philadelphia 76ers (1963–present) | Syracuse, New York Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1949 | —* | 1970 | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division |
| Philadelphia Warriors (now the Golden State Warriors) | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1946 | § | 1962 | Western Division | Pacific Division |
| Providence Steamrollers | Providence, Rhode Island | 1946 | § | 1949 | Folded | — |
| Toronto Huskies | Toronto, Ontario | 1946 | § | 1947 | Folded | — |
| Washington Capitols | Washington, D.C. | 1946 1948 | § | 1947 1951 | Western Division Folded | — |

### Notes

* § founding BAA team
* † denotes an expansion team.
* * denotes a team that merged from the National Basketball League (NBL)

### Team timeline
## Division champions

| ^ | Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season |
| Season | Team | Record | Playoffs result |
| 1946–47 | Washington Capitols^ | 49–11 (.817) | Lost Semifinals |
| 1947–48 | Philadelphia Warriors | 27–21 (.563) | Lost BAA Finals |
| 1948–49 | Washington Capitols | 38–22 (.633) | Lost BAA Finals |
| 1949–50 | Syracuse Nationals^ | 51–13 (.797) | Lost NBA Finals |
| 1950–51 | Philadelphia Warriors | 40–26 (.606) | Lost Division semifinals |
| 1951–52 | Syracuse Nationals | 40–26 (.606) | Lost Division finals |
| 1952–53 | New York Knicks | 47–23 (.671) | Lost NBA Finals |
| 1953–54 | New York Knicks | 47–23 (.671) | Lost Division semifinals (round-robin) |
| 1954–55 | Syracuse Nationals^ | 43–29 (.597) | Lost Division finals |
| 1955–56 | Philadelphia Warriors^ | 45–27 (.625) | Won NBA Finals |
| 1956–57 | Boston Celtics^ | 44–28 (.611) | Won NBA Finals |
| 1957–58 | Boston Celtics^ | 49–23 (.681) | Lost NBA Finals |
| 1958–59 | Boston Celtics^ | 52–20 (.722) | Won NBA Finals |
| 1959–60 | Boston Celtics^ | 59–16 (.787) | Won NBA Finals |
| 1960–61 | Boston Celtics^ | 57–22 (.722) | Won NBA Finals |
| 1961–62 | Boston Celtics^ | 60–20 (.750) | Won NBA Finals |
| 1962–63 | Boston Celtics^ | 58–22 (.725) | Won NBA Finals |
| 1963–64 | Boston Celtics^ | 59–21 (.738) | Won NBA Finals |
| 1964–65 | Boston Celtics^ | 62–18 (.775) | Won NBA Finals |
| 1965–66 | Philadelphia 76ers^ | 55–25 (.688) | Lost Division finals |
| 1966–67 | Philadelphia 76ers^ | 68–13 (.840) | Won NBA Finals |
| 1967–68 | Philadelphia 76ers^ | 62–20 (.756) | Lost Division finals |
| 1968–69 | Baltimore Bullets^ | 57–25 (.695) | Lost Division semifinals |
| 1969–70 | New York Knicks^ | 60–22 (.732) | Won NBA Finals |

### Titles by team

| Team | Titles | Season(s) won |
| Boston Celtics | 9 | 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65 |
| Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers | 6 | 1949–50, 1951–52, 1954–55, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68 |
| Philadelphia Warriors (now the Golden State Warriors) | 3 | 1947–48, 1950–51, 1955–56 |
| New York Knicks | 3 | 1952–53, 1953–54, 1969–70 |
| Washington Capitols | 2 | 1946–47, 1948–49 |
| Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) | 1 | 1968–69 |

## Season results

| ^ | Denotes team that won the BAA/NBA championships |
| $^+$ | Denotes team that lost the BAA/NBA Finals |
| * | Denotes team that qualified for the BAA/NBA playoffs |
| Season | Team (record) | Team (record) | Team (record) | Team (record) | Team (record) | Team (record) | Team (record) |
| Season | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th |
| 1946: the Eastern Division was formed with six inaugural members. ||||||||
| 1946–47 | Washington* (49–11) | Philadelphia^ (35–25) | New York* (33–27) | Providence (28–32) | Boston (22–38) | Toronto (22–38) | |
| 1947: the Toronto Huskies folded during the off-season, while the Washington Capitols left to join the Western Division. ||||||||
| 1947–48 | Philadelphia$^+$ (27–21) | New York* (26–22) | Boston* (20–28) | Providence (6–42) | | | |
| 1948: the Washington Capitols re-joined the division, while the Baltimore Bullets joined from the Western Division. ||||||||
| 1948–49 | Washington$^+$ (38–22) | New York* (32–28) | Baltimore* (29–31) | Philadelphia* (28–32) | Boston (25–35) | Providence (12–48) | |
| 1949: the Providence Steamrollers folded during the off-season, while the Syracuse Nationals merged from the National Basketball League (NBL). ||||||||
| 1949–50 | Syracuse$^+$ (51–13) | New York* (40–28) | Washington* (32–36) | Philadelphia* (26–42) | Baltimore (25–43) | Boston (22–46) | |
| 1950–51 | Philadelphia* (40–26) | Boston* (39–30) | New York$^+$ (36–30) | Syracuse* (32–34) | Baltimore (24–42) | Washington (10–25) | |
| 1951: the Washington Capitols folded midway through the 1950–51 season. ||||||||
| 1951–52 | Syracuse* (40–26) | Boston* (39–27) | New York$^+$ (37–29) | Philadelphia* (33–33) | Baltimore (20–46) | | |
| 1952–53 | New York$^+$ (47–23) | Syracuse* (47–24) | Boston* (46–25) | Baltimore* (16–54) | Philadelphia (12–57) | | |
| 1953–54 | New York* (47–23) | Boston* (42–30) | Syracuse$^+$ (42–30) | Philadelphia (29–43) | Baltimore (16–56) | | |
| 1954: the Baltimore Bullets folded during the 1954–55 season. ||||||||
| 1954–55 | Syracuse^ (43–29) | New York* (38–34) | Boston* (36–36) | Philadelphia (33–39) | | | |
| 1955–56 | Philadelphia^ (45–27) | Boston* (39–33) | Syracuse* (35–37) | New York (35–37) | | | |
| 1956–57 | Boston^ (44–28) | Syracuse* (38–34) | Philadelphia* (37–35) | New York (36–36) | | | |
| 1957–58 | Boston$^+$ (49–23) | Syracuse* (41–31) | Philadelphia* (37–35) | New York (35–37) | | | |
| 1958–59 | Boston^ (52–20) | New York* (40–32) | Syracuse* (35–37) | Philadelphia (32–40) | | | |
| 1959–60 | Boston^ (59–16) | Philadelphia* (49–26) | Syracuse* (45–30) | New York (27–48) | | | |
| 1960–61 | Boston^ (57–22) | Philadelphia* (46–33) | Syracuse* (38–41) | New York (21–58) | | | |
| 1961–62 | Boston^ (60–20) | Philadelphia* (49–31) | Syracuse* (41–39) | New York (29–51) | | | |
| 1962: the Cincinnati Royals were shifted from the Western Division, because the Philadelphia Warriors relocated and joined the Western Division as the San Francisco Warriors. ||||||||
| 1962–63 | Boston^ (58–22) | Syracuse* (48–32) | Cincinnati* (42–38) | New York (21–59) | | | |
| 1963: the Syracuse Nationals relocated and became the Philadelphia 76ers. ||||||||
| 1963–64 | Boston^ (59–21) | Cincinnati* (55–25) | Philadelphia* (34–46) | New York (22–58) | | | |
| 1964–65 | Boston^ (62–18) | Cincinnati* (48–32) | Philadelphia* (40–40) | New York (31–49) | | | |
| 1965–66 | Philadelphia* (55–25) | Boston^ (54–26) | Cincinnati* (45–35) | New York (30–50) | | | |
| 1966: the Baltimore Bullets joined from the Western Division. ||||||||
| 1966–67 | Philadelphia^ (68–13) | Boston* (60–21) | Cincinnati* (39–42) | New York* (36–45) | Baltimore (20–61) | | |
| 1967: the Detroit Pistons joined from the Western Division. ||||||||
| 1967–68 | Philadelphia* (62–20) | Boston^ (54–28) | New York* (43–39) | Detroit* (40–42) | Cincinnati (39–43) | Baltimore (36–46) | |
| 1968: an expansion team, the Milwaukee Bucks, joined the division. ||||||||
| 1968–69 | Baltimore* (57–25) | Philadelphia* (55–27) | New York* (54–28) | Boston^ (48–34) | Cincinnati (41–41) | Detroit (32–50) | Milwaukee (27–55) |
| 1969–70 | New York^ (60–22) | Milwaukee* (56–26) | Baltimore* (50–32) | Philadelphia* (42–40) | Cincinnati (36–46) | Boston (34–48) | Detroit (31–51) |
| 1970: the NBA divided the league into the Eastern and Western conferences. The Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers joined the Atlantic Division, the Baltimore Bullets and Cincinnati Royals joined the Central Division, while the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks joined the Midwest Division. ||||||||