Full NBA season
2008-09
Explore the indexed regular season, conference races, divisions, and every playoff matchup from the 2008-09 NBA season.
1315indexed games
15playoff series
The season, told as it happened
Kobe reaches the title without Shaq
LeBron won 66 games and his first MVP, Dwight Howard carried Orlando through the East and Boston tried to defend without Garnett—then Los Angeles returned sharper, deeper and ready to convert the previous June's humiliation.
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 | Los Angeles Lakers | 65 | 17 | .793 | 106.9 | 99.3 |
| 4 | Denver Nuggets | 54 | 28 | .659 | 104.3 | 100.9 |
| 2 | Portland Trail Blazers | 54 | 28 | .659 | 99.4 | 94.1 |
| 3 | San Antonio Spurs | 54 | 28 | .659 | 97.0 | 93.3 |
| 7 | Houston Rockets | 53 | 29 | .646 | 98.4 | 94.4 |
| 6 | Dallas Mavericks | 50 | 32 | .610 | 101.7 | 99.8 |
| 5 | New Orleans Pelicans | 49 | 33 | .598 | 95.8 | 94.3 |
| 8 | Utah Jazz | 48 | 34 | .585 | 103.6 | 100.9 |
| — | Phoenix Suns | 46 | 36 | .561 | 109.4 | 107.5 |
| — | Golden State Warriors | 29 | 53 | .354 | 108.6 | 112.3 |
| — | Memphis Grizzlies | 24 | 58 | .293 | 93.9 | 99.3 |
| — | Minnesota Timberwolves | 24 | 58 | .293 | 97.8 | 102.7 |
| — | Oklahoma City Thunder | 23 | 59 | .280 | 97.0 | 103.1 |
| — | Los Angeles Clippers | 19 | 63 | .232 | 95.1 | 103.9 |
| — | Sacramento Kings | 17 | 65 | .207 | 100.6 | 109.3 |
Eastern Conference
Conference standings| Seed | Team | W | L | Pct | PF/G | PA/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 66 | 16 | .805 | 100.3 | 91.4 |
| 2 | Boston Celtics | 62 | 20 | .756 | 100.9 | 93.4 |
| 3 | Orlando Magic | 59 | 23 | .720 | 101.0 | 94.4 |
| 4 | Atlanta Hawks | 47 | 35 | .573 | 98.1 | 96.5 |
| 5 | Miami Heat | 43 | 39 | .524 | 98.3 | 98.0 |
| 7 | Chicago Bulls | 41 | 41 | .500 | 102.2 | 102.5 |
| 6 | Philadelphia 76ers | 41 | 41 | .500 | 97.4 | 97.3 |
| 8 | Detroit Pistons | 39 | 43 | .476 | 94.2 | 94.7 |
| — | Indiana Pacers | 36 | 46 | .439 | 105.1 | 106.2 |
| — | Charlotte Hornets | 35 | 47 | .427 | 93.6 | 94.9 |
| — | New Jersey Nets | 34 | 48 | .415 | 98.1 | 100.5 |
| — | Milwaukee Bucks | 34 | 48 | .415 | 99.3 | 100.4 |
| — | Toronto Raptors | 33 | 49 | .402 | 99.0 | 101.9 |
| — | New York Knicks | 32 | 50 | .390 | 105.2 | 107.8 |
| — | Washington Wizards | 19 | 63 | .232 | 96.1 | 103.5 |
Around the league