Southwest Division (NBA)

The Southwest Division is one of the three divisions in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division is located in the South Central United States and consists of five teams, the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Rockets, the Memphis Grizzlies, the New Orleans Pelicans and the San Antonio Spurs. Three of the teams, the Mavericks, Rockets, and Spurs, are based in Texas.

Southwest Division

Conference	Western Conference
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Inaugural season	2004–05 season
Teams
No. of teams	5
Championships
Most recent champion(s)	Houston Rockets (4th title)
Most titles	San Antonio Spurs (9 titles)

Consisting of some of the most historically competitive teams in the NBA's Western Conference, 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 Southwest Division began with five inaugural members, the Mavericks, the Rockets, the Grizzlies, the Hornets (now Pelicans) and the Spurs.[1] The Mavericks, the Rockets, the Grizzlies and the Spurs joined from the now-defunct Midwest Division, while the Pelicans joined from the Central Division.

The Spurs have been dominant since the division's inaugural season, having won the most Southwest Division titles with nine. The Mavericks and Rockets have won two titles each, and the Pelicans have won one title. The Grizzlies have never won the Southwest Division title. Four NBA champions came from the Southwest Division. The Spurs won the NBA championship in 2005, 2007 and 2014, while the Mavericks won in 2011. In the 2007–08 season, all four teams that qualified for the playoffs each had more than 50 wins. In the 2010–11 season and the 2014–15 season, all teams in the division had winning percentages above 0.500 (50%). In the 2014–15 season, the Southwest Division saw every one of its teams making the playoffs, a feat achieved only twice in the last 30 years.[2] The most recent division champion is the Houston Rockets.

Standings

Main article: 2019–20 NBA season

Southwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div	GP
y – Houston Rockets	44	28	.611	1.5	24–12	20–16	8–5	72
x – Dallas Mavericks	43	32	.573	4.0	20–18	23–14	10–4	75
Memphis Grizzlies	34	39	.466	12.0	20–17	14–22	4–9	73
San Antonio Spurs	32	39	.451	13.0	19–15	13–24	7–6	71
New Orleans Pelicans	30	42	.417	15.5	15–21	15–21	4–9	72

Notes

• z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
• x – Clinched playoff spot

Teams

Team	City	Year	From
		Joined
Dallas Mavericks	Dallas	2004	Midwest Division
Houston Rockets	Houston	2004	Midwest Division
Memphis Grizzlies	Memphis, Tennessee	2004	Midwest Division
New Orleans Pelicans (2013–present) New Orleans Hornets (2002–2005, 2007–2013) New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (2005–2007)^[a]	New Orleans New Orleans and Oklahoma City^[a]	2004	Central Division
San Antonio Spurs	San Antonio, Texas	2004	Midwest Division

Division champions

^	Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season

Season	Team	Record	Playoffs result
2004–05	San Antonio Spurs	59–23 (.720)	Won NBA Finals
2005–06	San Antonio Spurs	63–19 (.768)	Lost Conference Semifinals
2006–07	Dallas Mavericks^	67–15 (.817)	Lost First Round
2007–08	New Orleans Hornets	56–26 (.683)	Lost Conference Semifinals
2008–09	San Antonio Spurs	54–28 (.659)	Lost First Round
2009–10	Dallas Mavericks	55–27 (.671)	Lost First Round
2010–11	San Antonio Spurs	61–21 (.744)	Lost First Round
2011–12^[b]	San Antonio Spurs^	50–16 (.758)	Lost Conference Finals
2012–13	San Antonio Spurs	58–24 (.707)	Lost NBA Finals
2013–14	San Antonio Spurs^	62–20 (.756)	Won NBA Finals
2014–15	Houston Rockets	56–26 (.683)	Lost Conference Finals
2015–16	San Antonio Spurs	67–15 (.817)	Lost Conference Semifinals
2016–17	San Antonio Spurs	61–21 (.744)	Lost Conference Finals
2017–18	Houston Rockets^	65–17 (.793)	Lost Conference Finals
2018–19	Houston Rockets	53–29 (.793)	Lost Conference Semifinals
2019–20^[c]	Houston Rockets	44–28 (.611)

Titles by team

Team	Titles	Season(s) won
San Antonio Spurs	9	2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17
Houston Rockets	4	2014–15, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20
Dallas Mavericks	2	2006–07, 2009–10
New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans	1	2007–08
Memphis Grizzlies	0

Season results

^	Denotes team that won the NBA championships
^+	Denotes team that won the Conference Finals, but lost the NBA Finals
*	Denotes team that qualified for the NBA Playoffs

Season	Team (record)
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
2004: The Southwest Division was formed with five inaugural members. The New Orleans Hornets joined from the Central Division, while the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Rockets, the Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs joined from the Midwest Division.
2004–05	San Antonio^ (59–23)	Dallas* (58–24)	Houston* (51–31)	Memphis* (45–37)	New Orleans (18–64)
2005–06	San Antonio* (63–19)	Dallas^+ (60–22)	Memphis* (49–33)	New Orleans/OKC^[a] (38–44)	Houston (34–48)
2006–07	Dallas* (67–15)	San Antonio^ (58–24)	Houston* (52–30)	New Orleans/OKC^[a] (39–43)	Memphis (22–60)
2007–08	New Orleans* (56–26)	San Antonio* (56–26)	Houston* (55–27)	Dallas* (51–31)	Memphis (22–60)
2008–09	San Antonio* (54–28)	Houston* (53–29)	Dallas* (50–32)	New Orleans* (49–33)	Memphis (24–58)
2009–10	Dallas* (55–27)	San Antonio* (50–32)	Houston (42–40)	Memphis (40–42)	New Orleans (37–45)
2010–11	San Antonio* (61–21)	Dallas^ (57–25)	New Orleans* (46–36)	Memphis* (46–36)	Houston (43–39)
2011–12^[b]	San Antonio* (50–16)	Memphis* (41–25)	Dallas* (36–30)	Houston (34–32)	New Orleans (21–45)
2012–13	San Antonio+ (58–24)	Memphis* (56–26)	Houston* (45–37)	Dallas (41–41)	New Orleans (27–55)
2013: The New Orleans Hornets were renamed the New Orleans Pelicans.
2013–14	San Antonio^ (62–20)	Houston* (54–28)	Memphis* (50–32)	Dallas* (49–33)	New Orleans (34–48)
2014–15	Houston* (56–26)	Memphis* (55–27)	San Antonio* (55–27)	Dallas* (50–32)	New Orleans* (45–37)
2015–16	San Antonio* (67–15)	Dallas* (42–40)	Memphis* (42–40)	Houston* (41–41)	New Orleans (30–52)
2016–17	San Antonio* (61–21)	Houston* (55–27)	Memphis* (43–39)	New Orleans (34–48)	Dallas (33–49)
2017–18	Houston* (65–17)	New Orleans* (48–34)	San Antonio* (47–35)	Dallas (24–58)	Memphis (22–60)
2018–19	Houston* (53–29)	San Antonio* (48–34)	Memphis (33–49)	New Orleans (33–49)	Dallas (33–49)
2019–20^[c]	Houston* (44–28)	Dallas* (43–32)	Memphis (34–39)	San Antonio (32–39)	New Orleans (30–42)

Rivalries

Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs

Main article: Rockets–Spurs rivalry

Dallas Mavericks vs. Houston Rockets

Notes

• ^{a 1 2 3} The New Orleans Hornets temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City due to the effect of Hurricane Katrina. The majority of home games were played in Oklahoma City, while a few remained in New Orleans.
• ^{b 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.[3]
• ^{c 1 2} Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 82-game regular season schedule was cancelled 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.

References

General

• "NBA & ABA League Index". Basketball-Reference.com.

Specific

1. "Expansion Bobcats prompt change". ESPN.com. November 17, 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
2. "Southwest Division's historical dominance". ESPN.com. April 15, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
3. Jenkins, Lee (December 5, 2011). "'tis The Season". CNN Sports Illustrated. Time Warner Company. Retrieved April 30, 2012.

External links

• NBA.com Team Index