The 9 Greatest NBA Rivalries in the Past 20 Years
From the mid-'90s to the aughts to the teens, 15 different teams have played in the NBA finals, but only seven teams have won championships. In that era, there have been 300 playoff series and about 1,700 playoff games.
In that time frame, the Western Conference has dominated. Twelve of the 20 champs came out of the west. Since 1999, zero teams that finished the regular season under .500 have made the playoffs, per research conducted on basketball-reference.com. In that same time frame, 11 Eastern Conference teams have made the playoffs with a record under .500.
With most of the top teams, the west has supplied the majority of the rivalries in the past 20 years. Get used to the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers, they're all over this list.
Honorable Mentions
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My original list (with some help from a fellow NBA buff) had 19 rivalries. So instead of completely eliminating everyone, I figured I'd throw some of the toughest omissions a bone.
The Detroit Pistons were clearly the best team in the Eastern Conference once they acquired Rasheed Wallace from the Portland Trail Blazers in February 2004. Through the years, they battled with the Heat, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and, of course, the Indiana Pacers. Well, their fans battled with the Pacers. That corps of 'Sheed, Ben Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups won one title, made two NBA finals and played in six straight conference finals but didn't crack my top nine. Sorry Detroit.
The Dallas Mavericks have made the playoffs every season except two since owner Mark Cuban acquired the team in 2000. They've contended with the San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat. Sorry Dallas.
The "Baby Bulls" probably played the most entertaining first round series I can remember (with apologies to the 2015 Spurs/Clippers series) against the Celtics in 2009. They also built strong contenders around Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to challenge LeBron James' Heat and Cavaliers. Still, no spot for the post-Jordan Bulls. Sorry Chicago.
Now that I've thoroughly upset most of the Midwest, let's move onto the nine rivalries that did make the list.
9. Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers: 2012-Current
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They've only played one playoff series. It was a seven-game bloodbath that the Los Angeles Clippers took in 2014. The Golden State Warriors complained that they would have won the series had center Andrew Bogut been healthy. It should be noted that the next season the Warriors won the title with Bogut as a healthy scratch in the final two games.
However, this rivalry makes the list because it's the best rivalry in the league right now. These California rivals hate each other. In November 2013, the Clippers banned the Warriors from their pregame chapel—a major no-no in the league.
Since then, Draymond Green has been at the center of the controversy. He was ejected for dropping an elbow on Blake Griffin on Christmas day two years ago. Green also dropped the ever comical line, "cool story, Glenn," soundbite last year that didn't sit well with Clippers head coach Doc (Glenn) Rivers.
Now the Clippers are chirping that the Warriors didn't "deserve" the title because they didn't beat the Clippers or the Spurs.
Hmm.
Whose fault is it that the Warriors didn't play the Clippers last season? According to the Clippers, it's the Warriors' fault. Curious.
Hopefully we get this dream matchup in the 2016 playoffs.
8. San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns: 2005-2010
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The Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs played some really fun playoff series in the mid-aughts. From 2005-2010, they met in the postseason four times. The Spurs won the first three series, with the Suns sweeping the 2010 series.
In the 2008 Western Conference Semifinals Robert Horry checked Steve Nash into the scorers' table in the waning minutes of Game 4. Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw jumped off the bench instinctively to aid their MVP point guard. The two Suns forwards were suspended for Game 5 because of a terrible league rule that players were not allowed to leave the bench. The Suns hung with the Spurs despite a short seven-man rotation but lost 88-85.
The Spurs won game six and eventually swept a weak Cleveland Cavaliers team in the finals. The Nash Suns never made it out of the West.
7. Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs: 2012-Current
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The Spurs or Thunder have represented the West in three of the past five NBA Finals. The two played in the conference finals twice, each team winning once.
Though the Spurs have the hardware, the Hall of Famers, the coach and the infrastructure, it's clear they fear the Thunder when they're healthy. Oklahoma City seems to be the only team long and athletic enough to consistently slow down the European ball-movement system the Spurs run to perfection.
The Thunder have two of the best six players in the league. They have a new coach and appear healthy. The Spurs have a shiny new frontcourt mate for Tim Duncan. LaMarcus Aldridge is the best big Duncan's played with since David Robinson retired. Watch out for a conference finals rematch.
6. Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings: 2000-02
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Get ready for a lot of Lakers chatter.
I am convinced that the Kings were the best team in the NBA in 2002. They were way ahead of the analytics with shot selection, ball movement and floor spacing. Unfortunately, they had to deal with Shaq in his prime. That's never fun.
You know what else isn't fun? Being on the wrong end of a referee-centric betting scandal. In Game 6 of the 2002 conference finals, the Lakers attempted 27 free throws in the fourth quarter alone and one of the refs, Tim Donaghy, was later indicted. The Kings never fully recovered. They lost Game 7 and had to watch the Lakers sweep the Nets in the finals.
5. Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers: 2011-2014
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It seems so long ago now, but the Pacers and Heat played in two straight conference finals and three straight playoffs. The Heat, armed with three of the best 12 players in the league, won all three contests. But the Pacers scared them every year.
In 2012, with the Pacers up 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, no Chris Bosh and 10,000 media members ready to declare the Miami Big Three experiment a failure, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade unleashed fury. The two combined for 70 points, 27 rebounds and 15 assists in an eight-point win in Indy.
The next season, the Pacers bullied the Heat in the post and pushed the series to seven games. Unfortunately, Miami blew them out by 23 en route to their second title in as many seasons.
In 2014, the Pacers challenged again, but Miami took Game 6 in blowout fashion and advanced to their fourth straight finals appearance.
In the summer of 2014, LeBron wrote a letter and Paul George broke his leg, effectively ending the rivalry.
4. Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls: 1997-98
7 of 10Michael Jordan has to be on this list.
I considered the Bulls and Pacers rivalry. I thought about the Knicks and Bulls too. But these John Stockton and Karl Malone Jazz teams were excellent teams that just couldn't hang with the GOAT.
In two seasons, the Jazz and Bulls combined to go 257-71. Granted, the talent pool had not yet caught up with the rapidly expanding NBA. But still, they won over 78 percent of their games!
Neither series went the full seven games, but both went six games and nine of the 12 total contests finished with a margin of victory of five or fewer points.
3. Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics: 2008-2010
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1989 through 2008 was the longest stretch without a truly great cross-conference rivalry. Not since the epic battles between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson had the Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals.
The Lakers were no slouch in that era. They won three titles and played for a fourth. The Celtics, not so great.
Then, in 2007, Boston built a juggernaut. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and a kid from Kentucky named Rajon Rondo joined Paul Pierce in Beantown.
The Western Conference had no clear favorite that year. Then, in February 2008, the Memphis Grizzlies gave Pau Gasol to the Lakers for a box of scraps and, a few months later, we had our dream finals matchup of yore.
The Celtics won in six games. They came back from 24 down in Game 4 and won Game 6 by 39.
The Lakers would exact revenge...eventually. They beat the upstart Magic in 2009, then edged the Celtics in seven games in the 2010 finals.
2. Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs: 1999-2004
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From 1999 through 2004, the Lakers and Spurs played in all six finals and won five of them. In that span, they met in the playoffs five times. The Lakers won three series and the Spurs won two. However, none of those series were particularly close. Twice the Lakers swept the Spurs and once the Spurs swept the Lakers.
Looking back though, this rivalry featured the greatest power forward in history, the second-best shooting guard in history and the most dominant force since Wilt Chamberlain, all in or close to their prime. It also featured the two best NBA coaches since Red Auerbach.
1. Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks: 1993-2000
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Neither of these teams won a title in the era. But that probably helped fuel the rivalry. Ask any Knicks fan over the age of 20, I bet their least-favorite player is Reggie Miller.
The two teams were the little brothers to Jordan's Bulls, and it did not sit well with either franchise. They had shooting on the perimeter and power on the interior. Watching old Knicks-Pacers games makes old-school big men proud.
The trash talking was incessant between Latrell Sprewell, John Starks, Jalen Rose, Mark Jackson and, of course, Reggie Miller. There are iconic moments. Larry Johnson's four-point-play. Eight points in nine seconds. Jalen stealing Ewings TV/VCR. The two franchises played each other six times between the 1993 and 2000 seasons.
Pat Riley, Jeff Van Gundy, Larry Brown and Larry Bird were the teams' coaches during the era. That is a murderer's row of basketball icons.
After Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller retired, the rivalry cooled. Hopefully Paul George and Carmelo Anthony can lift their respective squads to the playoffs so we get to see some '90s montages during breaks in the action. Hopefully.
