Sports Stats · Basketball

NBA Rivalries

Sixteen of the NBA's great rivalries, from Celtics–Lakers, the league's most played Finals, to the Bad Boys and the Bulls, Heat–Knicks and Knicks–Pacers: who leads the head to head in the regular season and the playoffs, how the lead has moved season by season, and every playoff series between them.

The lead, season by season

Wins minus losses in every game between them, regular season and playoffs, after each season. Above the line, one side leads the head to head; below it, the other.

Every season

Regular-season wins of each side, season by season: one team's above the line, the other's below. A dot above a season marks a playoff series, in the winner's color, with a ring for the Finals. Hover or tap a season for the details.

View data table

Every playoff series

Most recent first, with the games each side won.

Home and away

Wins of each side by where the game was played. In the early decades some games were played at neutral sites.