Northwest Division (NBA)

Northwest Division

Conference	Western Conference
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Inaugural season	2004–05 season
No. of teams	5
Most recent champion(s)	Oklahoma City Thunder (1st title)
Most titles	Denver Nuggets (3 titles)

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 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 Blazers, the Seattle SuperSonics and the Jazz.^[1] The Blazers and the Sonics joined from the Pacific Division, while the Nuggets, the Timberwolves and the Jazz joined from the now-defunct Midwest Division.

The Nuggets have won the most Northwest Division titles with three. The Jazz and the Sonics/Thunder franchise have won two titles each. The Timberwolves and the Blazers have never won the Northwest Division title. No team from the division has ever won the NBA championship. In the 2009–10 season, all four teams that qualified for the playoffs each had more than 50 wins. The most recent division champion is the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Standings

Main article: 2010–11 NBA season

Northwest Division v · d · e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Oklahoma City Thunder	55	27	.671	–	30–11	25–16	13–3
x-Denver Nuggets	50	32	.610	5	33–8	17–24	9–7
x-Portland Trail Blazers	48	34	.585	7	30–11	18–23	10–6
Utah Jazz	39	43	.476	16	21–20	18–23	7–9
Minnesota Timberwolves	17	65	.207	38	12–29	5–36	1–15

Notes

• y – Clinched division title
• x – Clinched playoff spot

Teams

Team	City	Year	From
		Joined
Denver Nuggets	Denver, Colorado	2004	Midwest Division
Minnesota Timberwolves	Minneapolis, Minnesota	2004	Midwest Division
Portland Trail Blazers	Portland, Oregon	2004	Pacific Division
Oklahoma City Thunder (2008–present) Seattle SuperSonics (1967–2008)	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Seattle, Washington	2004	Pacific Division
Utah Jazz	Salt Lake City, Utah	2004	Midwest Division

Division champions

Season	Team	Record	Playoffs result
2004–05	Seattle SuperSonics	&10000000000000000634000 52–30 (.634)	Lost Conference Semifinals
2005–06	Denver Nuggets	&10000000000000000537000 44–38 (.537)	Lost First Round
2006–07	Utah Jazz	&10000000000000000622000 51–31 (.622)	Lost Conference Finals
2007–08	Utah Jazz	&10000000000000000659000 54–28 (.659)	Lost Conference Semifinals
2008–09	Denver Nuggets	&10000000000000000659000 54–28 (.659)	Lost Conference Finals
2009–10	Denver Nuggets	&10000000000000000646000 53–29 (.646)	Lost First Round
2010–11	Oklahoma City Thunder	&10000000000000000671000 55–27 (.671)	Lost Conference Finals

Titles by team

Team	Titles	Season(s) won
Denver Nuggets	3	2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder	2	2004–05, 2010–11
Utah Jazz	2	2006–07, 2007–08

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 Northwest Division was formed with five inaugural members. The Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle SuperSonics joined from the Pacific Division, while the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz joined from the Midwest Division.
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: The Seattle SuperSonics relocated and became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
2008–09	Denver* (54–28)	Portland* (54–28)	Utah* (48–34)	Minnesota (24–54)	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)

References

General

• "NBA & ABA League Index". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/. 

Specific

1. ^ "Expansion Bobcats prompt change". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. November 17, 2003. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1664103. Retrieved May 29, 2011. 

External links

• NBA.com Team Index