We took every regular-season game since 1996-97 from NBA.com's official team game logs, kept only the 12,689 played between a Western and an Eastern team, and counted wins and points. Each team is assigned the conference it played in that season, from NBA.com's final standings, and the totals match the standings' own records against each conference in all 30 seasons.
Only one franchise changed conference in that time. The Hornets moved from Charlotte to New Orleans in 2002, played two more seasons in the East and joined the West in 2004-05, when the expansion Charlotte Bobcats took their place; the Bobcats became the Hornets again in 2014 and took back the original team's records. Charlotte counts for the East in every season it existed and New Orleans for the East through 2003-04. The Vancouver Grizzlies' move to Memphis in 2001, the Seattle SuperSonics' move to Oklahoma City in 2008 and the Hornets' two seasons in Oklahoma City after Hurricane Katrina all stayed in the West.
NBA East vs. West record by year since 1996-97
The East had the upper hand at the start. From 1996-97 to 1998-99, as the Chicago Bulls won the last two of their six titles, Eastern teams won 531 of 924 games against the West, 57.5 percent, and their best year of the 30 was 1997-98, 243-177, or 57.9 percent. Then the balance flipped: the West won the season series in 21 of the 22 seasons from 1999-00 to 2020-21, with 56.5 percent of the games and 1.97 points a game.
The West's best seasons were 2003-04, 266-154, or 63.3 percent, and 2013-14, 284-166, or 63.1 percent, when it also won by a record 4.09 points a game. The East's only win in that stretch came in 2008-09, 219-231. It then took the series in 2021-22, 224-226, and 2022-23, 214-236, before the West won the last three.
| Season | Games | West W-L vs. East | West win % | West margin | NBA champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 420 | 178-242 | 42.4% | -2.46 | Bulls (East) |
| 1997-98 | 420 | 177-243 | 42.1% | -2.99 | Bulls (East) |
| 1998-99 | 84 | 38-46 | 45.2% | -0.93 | Spurs (West) |
| 1999-00 | 420 | 227-193 | 54.0% | +1.56 | Lakers (West) |
| 2000-01 | 420 | 259-161 | 61.7% | +3.10 | Lakers (West) |
| 2001-02 | 420 | 232-188 | 55.2% | +2.10 | Lakers (West) |
| 2002-03 | 420 | 250-170 | 59.5% | +2.89 | Spurs (West) |
| 2003-04 | 420 | 266-154 | 63.3% | +3.73 | Pistons (East) |
| 2004-05 | 450 | 256-194 | 56.9% | +2.50 | Spurs (West) |
| 2005-06 | 450 | 252-198 | 56.0% | +0.95 | Heat (East) |
| 2006-07 | 450 | 257-193 | 57.1% | +2.19 | Spurs (West) |
| 2007-08 | 450 | 258-192 | 57.3% | +2.21 | Celtics (East) |
| 2008-09 | 450 | 219-231 | 48.7% | -1.00 | Lakers (West) |
| 2009-10 | 450 | 246-204 | 54.7% | +0.98 | Lakers (West) |
| 2010-11 | 450 | 261-189 | 58.0% | +2.07 | Mavericks (West) |
| 2011-12 | 270 | 156-114 | 57.8% | +1.97 | Heat (East) |
| 2012-13 | 450 | 262-188 | 58.2% | +2.80 | Heat (East) |
| 2013-14 | 450 | 284-166 | 63.1% | +4.09 | Spurs (West) |
| 2014-15 | 450 | 263-187 | 58.4% | +2.93 | Warriors (West) |
| 2015-16 | 450 | 232-218 | 51.6% | +0.75 | Cavaliers (East) |
| 2016-17 | 450 | 246-204 | 54.7% | +2.10 | Warriors (West) |
| 2017-18 | 450 | 237-213 | 52.7% | +1.01 | Warriors (West) |
| 2018-19 | 450 | 252-198 | 56.0% | +2.13 | Raptors (East) |
| 2019-20 | 389 | 211-178 | 54.2% | +1.61 | Lakers (West) |
| 2020-21 | 450 | 242-208 | 53.8% | +0.85 | Bucks (East) |
| 2021-22 | 450 | 224-226 | 49.8% | -0.33 | Warriors (West) |
| 2022-23 | 450 | 214-236 | 47.6% | -0.90 | Nuggets (West) |
| 2023-24 | 452 | 261-191 | 57.7% | +1.95 | Celtics (East) |
| 2024-25 | 452 | 249-203 | 55.1% | +2.19 | Thunder (West) |
| 2025-26 | 452 | 232-220 | 51.3% | +0.40 | Knicks (East) |
| All 30 seasons | 12,689 | 6,941-5,748 | 54.7% | +1.41 | West 18, East 12 |
A Western edge of 1.41 points a game over 30 seasons is about half of what home-court advantage was worth in the same seasons, 2.77 points. Over the last five seasons it has been 0.66 points. Single teams show the extremes: the 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder went 29-1 against the East, the best record against the other conference since 1996-97, and at the other end the 2008-09 Sacramento Kings went 1-29.
The West's longest run of dominance over the East
The West's longest streak of winning seasons against the East is 12, from 2009-10 to 2020-21, and only one season, 2008-09, separates it from the nine-season run before it. The current streak is three.
- 1996-97 to 1998-99: East 531-393. The 1998-99 lockout cut the season to 50 games and dropped most interconference games: only 84 were played, and the East won 46.
- 1999-00 to 2007-08: West ahead nine seasons in a row, peaking at 63.3 percent in 2003-04.
- 2008-09: the East's lone winning season between 1998-99 and 2021-22, by 12 games.
- 2009-10 to 2020-21: West ahead 12 seasons in a row, peaking at 63.1 percent in 2013-14.
- 2021-22 to 2025-26: East ahead twice, West three times, 1,180-1,076 for the West in all.
East playoff teams with losing records, West teams left out
The imbalance shows most at the playoff line. From 1996-97 to 2025-26, 16 Eastern teams reached the playoffs with a losing record, against 5 in the West, and 21 Western teams missed with a winning record, against 9 in the East. In 17 of the 30 seasons at least one Western team stayed home with a better record than an Eastern playoff team; the reverse happened in six.
- The best records left out were 48-34, by the 2007-08 Golden State Warriors and the 2013-14 Phoenix Suns. In both seasons the Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs in the East, at 37-45 and 38-44.
- The worst Eastern playoff team was the 2003-04 Boston Celtics, 36-46, one of two losing teams in the East field that year, while the Utah Jazz missed the West playoffs at 42-40.
- In the play-in era, since 2020-21, three teams have reached the playoffs with a losing record, as our study of the play-in tournament notes: the 2021 Washington Wizards and the 2025 Miami Heat in the East, the 2022 New Orleans Pelicans in the West. Play-in losers count here as having missed, which is how the 46-36 Warriors and Sacramento Kings were left out in 2023-24.
For the records it usually takes to get in, conference by conference, see how many wins it takes to make the playoffs.
50-win teams by conference
The top of the West has been deeper too. Counting 50 wins, or the same pace of 61 percent in the shortened seasons, the West produced 155 such teams in 30 seasons and the East 94, even though the West had 14 teams to the East's 15 until 2003-04. The West had more 50-win teams in 24 seasons, the East in three: 1996-97, 2017-18 and 2022-23. The West had eight in both 2007-08 and 2009-10; the East had only one, the Detroit Pistons, in 2002-03.
NBA Finals by conference: East vs. West champions
Regular-season strength has not translated one for one into titles. From 1984 to 2026 the West won 23 Finals and the East 20. The East won 10 of the 15 from 1984 to 1998, including the Bulls' six, and the West 18 of the 28 since, five of them by the San Antonio Spurs.
Even during the West's 22-season run, the East won 8 Finals out of 22: the Pistons in 2004, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the West's best season against the East, the Miami Heat three times, the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks. Over the last six Finals the score is three each. Titles turn on a single team, and the best regular-season record wins the title less than half the time.
East vs. West in the 2025-26 NBA season
The West won 2025-26 by 232-220, 51.3 percent and 0.40 points a game, the narrowest of its 24 winning seasons since 1996-97. The top of the West carried it: the San Antonio Spurs went 26-4 against the East, the best record against the other conference that season, and the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets 23-7. The West also had five 50-win teams to the East's four, led by the 64-18 Thunder and the 62-20 Spurs.
Further down the standings the East was deeper. The Charlotte Hornets, 44-38, and the Miami Heat, 43-39, missed the East playoffs with winning records, while the Portland Trail Blazers got into the West field at 42-40 and the LA Clippers, 42-40, were the only Western team left out above .500. The worst records against the other conference were the Indiana Pacers' 4-26 and the Memphis Grizzlies' 6-24.
The two games that decided titles went East. The New York Knicks beat the Spurs 124-113 in the NBA Cup final on December 16, 2025, a game that does not appear in the regular-season logs, and beat them again in the Finals, 4-1, for their first championship since 1973.
East vs. West on the 2026-27 NBA schedule
The 2026-27 regular season starts on Tuesday, October 20, and ends on April 11, 2027, and no games have been played yet. The conferences are unchanged, and the schedule the league released has each team playing 30 games against the other conference, home and away against all 15 teams, 450 games in all. Every date is on the 2026-27 NBA schedule, and our NBA simulator plays out both conferences from there.
NBA East vs. West: frequently asked questions
Is the Western Conference better than the Eastern Conference? Over the last 30 seasons, yes: the West won 54.7 percent of regular-season games against the East and finished ahead in 24 of 30 seasons, including 2025-26, 232-220.
How many times has the East beaten the West in a season? Six times since 1996-97: 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2008-09, 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Which conference has won more NBA titles? Since 1984 the West leads 23 to 20. Since 1999 it leads 18 to 10, but the East won three of the last six, most recently the New York Knicks in 2026.
Do East teams make the playoffs with losing records more often? Yes. Sixteen Eastern teams have made the playoffs with losing records since 1996-97, against five in the West, and 21 Western teams have missed with winning records, against nine in the East.
How this was built: every NBA regular-season game from 1996-97 to 2025-26 between a Western and an Eastern Conference team, from NBA.com's official team game logs, 12,689 games; the NBA Cup championship games are not in those logs and are left out. Conferences, records and the 50-win pace (50 of 82, applied to the 1998-99, 2011-12, 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons as a percentage) come from NBA.com's final standings; playoff teams from the playoff game logs. Finals from 1983-84 to 2025-26 come from the playoff logs, checked against NBA.com's list of champions. The 2026-27 schedule is the league's release as of September 29, 2026.