Northwest Division (NBA)
The Northwest Division is one of the three divisions in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams: the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz. The Northwest Division is by far the most geographically expansive of the six divisions; the Nuggets, Trail Blazers and Jazz are geographically closer to the Pacific Division, the Timberwolves are geographically closer to the Central Division, and the Thunder is geographically closer to the Southwest Division, although in the latter instance that was not the case when the division was formed as the Thunder were still the Seattle SuperSonics.
| Conference | Western Conference |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Inaugural season | 2004–05 season |
| No. of teams | 5 |
| Most recent champion(s) | Denver Nuggets (6th title) |
| Most titles | Oklahoma City Thunder/Seattle SuperSonics Denver Nuggets (6 titles each) |
The division was created at the start of the 2004–05 season, when the league expanded from 29 to 30 teams with the addition of the Charlotte Bobcats. The league realigned itself into three divisions in each conference. The Northwest Division began with five inaugural members: the Nuggets, the Timberwolves, the Trail Blazers, the SuperSonics and the Jazz.[1][2] The Trail Blazers and SuperSonics joined from the Pacific Division, while the Nuggets, the Timberwolves and Jazz joined from the now-defunct Midwest Division. The SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City prior to the 2008–09 season and became the Thunder, but remained in the Northwest Division. Other than this franchise re-location, the division's membership has remained unchanged since its creation.
The most recent division champions are the Denver Nuggets, having won a sixth division championship in the 2022–23 NBA season. They along with the SuperSonics-Thunder franchise have won the most Northwest Division titles with six each, while the Jazz have won five, the Trail Blazers have won two, and the Timberwolves have never won the Northwest Division title. In the 2009–10 season, all four teams that qualified for the playoffs each had more than 50 wins, and in 2018–19 all four teams that qualified for the playoffs had at least 49 wins.
Since the 2021–22 season, the Northwest Division champion has received the Sam Jones Trophy, named after Hall of Famer Sam Jones.[3]
2023–24 standings
| Northwest Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver Nuggets | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Utah Jazz | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1 |
Teams
Sam Jones Trophy
Beginning with the 2021–22 season, the Northwest Division champion has received the Sam Jones Trophy. As with the other division championship trophies, it is named after one of the African American pioneers from NBA history. During his playing career from 1957 to 1969, Sam Jones was an integral part of a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 10 NBA championships during that span. The Jones Trophy consists of a 200-millimetre (7.9 in) crystal ball.[4]
Division champions
| ^ | Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season |
Titles by team
| Team | Titles | Season(s) won |
|---|---|---|
| Denver Nuggets | 6 | 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2022–23 |
| Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder | 6 | 2004–05, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16 |
| Utah Jazz | 5 | 2006–07, 2007–08, 2016–17, 2020–21, 2021–22 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 2 | 2014–15, 2017–18 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 0 | – |
Season results
| ^ | Denotes team that won the NBA championship |
| + | Denotes team that won the Conference finals, but lost the NBA Finals |
| * | Denotes team that qualified for the NBA Playoffs |
| × | Denotes team that qualified for the NBA play-in tournament |
| † | Denotes team that did not qualify for the 2020 NBA Bubble season restart |
| Season | Team (record) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | |
| |||||
| 2004–05 | Seattle* (52–30) | Denver* (49–33) | Minnesota (44–38) | Portland (27–55) | Utah (26–56) |
| 2005–06 | Denver* (44–38) | Utah (41–41) | Seattle (35–47) | Minnesota (33–49) | Portland (21–61) |
| 2006–07 | Utah* (51–31) | Denver* (45–37) | Portland (32–50) | Minnesota (32–50) | Seattle (31–51) |
| 2007–08 | Utah* (54–28) | Denver* (50–32) | Portland (41–41) | Minnesota (22–60) | Seattle (20–62) |
| |||||
| 2008–09 | Denver* (54–28) | Portland* (54–28) | Utah* (48–34) | Minnesota (24–58) | Oklahoma City (23–59) |
| 2009–10 | Denver* (53–29) | Utah* (53–29) | Portland* (50–32) | Oklahoma City* (50–32) | Minnesota (15–67) |
| 2010–11 | Oklahoma City* (55–27) | Denver* (50–32) | Portland* (48–34) | Utah (39–43) | Minnesota (17–65) |
| 2011–12[a] | Oklahoma City+ (47–19) | Denver* (38–28) | Utah* (36–30) | Portland (28–38) | Minnesota (26–40) |
| 2012–13 | Oklahoma City* (60–22) | Denver* (57–25) | Utah (43–39) | Portland (33–49) | Minnesota (31–51) |
| 2013–14 | Oklahoma City* (59–23) | Portland* (54–28) | Minnesota (40–42) | Denver (36–46) | Utah (25–57) |
| 2014–15 | Portland* (51–31) | Oklahoma City (45–37) | Utah (38–44) | Denver (30–52) | Minnesota (16–66) |
| 2015–16 | Oklahoma City* (55–27) | Portland* (44–38) | Utah (40–42) | Denver (33–49) | Minnesota (29–53) |
| 2016–17 | Utah* (51–31) | Oklahoma City* (47–35) | Portland* (41–41) | Denver (40–42) | Minnesota (31–51) |
| 2017–18 | Portland* (49–33) | Oklahoma City* (48–34) | Utah* (48–34) | Minnesota* (47–35) | Denver (46–36) |
| 2018–19 | Denver* (54–28) | Portland* (53–29) | Utah* (50–32) | Oklahoma City* (49–33) | Minnesota (36–46) |
| 2019–20[b] | Denver* (46–27) | Oklahoma City* (44–28) | Utah* (44–28) | Portland* (35–39) | Minnesota† (19–45) |
| 2020–21[c] | Utah* (52–20) | Denver* (47–25) | Portland* (42–30) | Minnesota (23–49) | Oklahoma City (22–50) |
| 2021–22 | Utah* (49–33) | Denver* (48–34) | Minnesota* (46–36) | Portland (27–55) | Oklahoma City (24–58) |
| 2022–23 | Denver^ (53–29) | Minnesota* (42–40) | Oklahoma City× (40–42) | Utah (37–45) | Portland (33–49) |
Notes
- a 1 2 Because of a lockout, the season did not start until December 25, 2011, and all 30 teams played a shortened 66-game regular season schedule.[5]
- b 1 2 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 82-game regular season schedule was suspended on March 11, 2020. The season was restarted on July 30 under an eight-game seeding format in the 2020 NBA Bubble to conclude the regular season and determine playoff berths. Games were played inside the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
- c 1 2 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season did not start until December 22, 2020, and all 30 teams played a shortened 72-game regular season schedule.
References
- General
- "NBA & ABA League Index". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
- Specific
- "NBA Approves Realignment for 2004-05 Season". National Basketball Association. November 17, 2003. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- "Expansion Bobcats prompt change". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. November 17, 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
- "NBA unveils new trophies for division winners named after 6 NBA legends". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 11, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- "NBA Unveils Division Winner Trophies Named After Black Pioneers from League History". Bleacher Report. April 11, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- Jenkins, Lee (December 5, 2011). "'tis The Season". CNN Sports Illustrated. Time Warner Company. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
External links
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