Full NBA season
2003-04
Explore the indexed regular season, conference races, divisions, and every playoff matchup from the 2003-04 NBA season.
1271indexed games
15playoff series
The season, told as it happened
Detroit breaks the superteam
The Lakers added Malone and Payton, Garnett carried Minnesota to the West's best record and LeBron began his career—then Detroit traded for Rasheed Wallace, strangled the East and exposed every fracture in Los Angeles.
Full-season spoilers ahead
Begin the guided season story
This walkthrough reveals trades, playoff results, injuries and the champion as they happened. The regular archive below remains spoiler-safe.
Editorial sources and methodology
Athlore season stories are written as chronological editorial guides, checked against the linked season sources, and connected to the app's verified games, series, awards and exact player-season archives.
Postseason map
Playoff bracket
Follow every series from the opening round toward the NBA Finals.
Swipe through the bracket
1 / 4
First round
Conference semifinals
Conference finals
NBA Finals
Season honors
Awards and leaders
Open an award winner’s season or sort the verified leaders by any column.
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Midseason showcase
All-Star weekend
The event format follows what the league actually used that season, from East–West and captain drafts to multi-game tournaments.
East vs West
The classic conference matchup
The Eastern and Western Conference selections met in the traditional NBA All-Star Game format.
Selected rosters
Loading team rosters; the verified selection pool is available now.
Regular season
Conference standings
Western Conference
Conference standings| Seed | Team | W | L | Pct | PF/G | PA/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 58 | 24 | .707 | 94.5 | 89.1 |
| 2 | San Antonio Spurs | 57 | 25 | .695 | 91.5 | 84.3 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Lakers | 56 | 26 | .683 | 98.2 | 94.3 |
| 4 | Sacramento Kings | 55 | 27 | .671 | 102.8 | 97.8 |
| 5 | Dallas Mavericks | 52 | 30 | .634 | 105.2 | 100.8 |
| 7 | Memphis Grizzlies | 50 | 32 | .610 | 96.7 | 94.3 |
| 6 | Houston Rockets | 45 | 37 | .549 | 89.8 | 88.0 |
| 8 | Denver Nuggets | 43 | 39 | .524 | 97.2 | 96.1 |
| — | Utah Jazz | 42 | 40 | .512 | 88.7 | 89.9 |
| — | Portland Trail Blazers | 41 | 41 | .500 | 90.7 | 92.0 |
| — | New Orleans Pelicans | 41 | 41 | .500 | 91.8 | 91.9 |
| — | Golden State Warriors | 37 | 45 | .451 | 93.3 | 94.0 |
| — | Seattle SuperSonics | 37 | 45 | .451 | 97.1 | 97.8 |
| — | Phoenix Suns | 29 | 53 | .354 | 94.2 | 97.9 |
| — | Los Angeles Clippers | 28 | 54 | .341 | 94.8 | 99.4 |
Eastern Conference
Conference standings| Seed | Team | W | L | Pct | PF/G | PA/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indiana Pacers | 61 | 21 | .744 | 91.4 | 85.6 |
| 2 | Detroit Pistons | 54 | 28 | .659 | 90.1 | 84.3 |
| 3 | New Jersey Nets | 47 | 35 | .573 | 90.3 | 87.8 |
| — | Miami Heat | 42 | 40 | .512 | 90.3 | 89.7 |
| 7 | Milwaukee Bucks | 41 | 41 | .500 | 98.0 | 97.0 |
| 6 | New York Knicks | 39 | 43 | .476 | 92.0 | 93.5 |
| 8 | Boston Celtics | 36 | 46 | .439 | 95.3 | 96.7 |
| — | Cleveland Cavaliers | 35 | 47 | .427 | 92.9 | 95.5 |
| — | Philadelphia 76ers | 33 | 49 | .402 | 88.0 | 90.5 |
| — | Toronto Raptors | 33 | 49 | .402 | 85.4 | 88.5 |
| — | Atlanta Hawks | 28 | 54 | .341 | 92.8 | 97.5 |
| — | Washington Wizards | 25 | 57 | .305 | 91.8 | 97.4 |
| — | Chicago Bulls | 23 | 59 | .280 | 89.7 | 96.0 |
| — | Orlando Magic | 21 | 61 | .256 | 94.0 | 101.1 |
Around the league