What is NBA Rivals Week? Schedule, history and best games to watch

The NBA's third annual Rivalry Week runs from January 21-25.
Philadelphia 76ers v Denver Nuggets
Philadelphia 76ers v Denver Nuggets / C. Morgan Engel/GettyImages
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Happy NBA Rivals Week! If you didn't know it was NBA Rivals Week... that's fine! The annual week of rivalry matchups started back in 2023, when the NBA decided to promote some of the biggest rivalries in the league... or maybe to push budding rivalries into the public consciousness. You can't blame the NBA for trying — a lot of rivalries in the NBA have fizzled out a bit in recent years, so this is a fun idea to showcase rivalries on primetime spots. We're now in year three of Rivals Week, so it must be working.

The best games in this year's Rivals Week are kind of the obvious ones, in my optinion. The week concludes with Warriors vs. Lakers on Saturday night, and LeBron vs. Steph will be fun for as long as they're both in the league. On Wednesday night, we'll be treated to Warriors vs. Kings, which has always been a fun California rivalry, and has become even more heated in recent years after the playoff series two years ago and the play-in game last season.

Every game involving Dallas is a lot less fun than it could have been because of Luka Doncic's injury, but maybe we'll get some Kyrie magic to make up for it.

Also, I'm on board for Pelicans vs. Grizzlies being a rivalry, but do those teams have any feelings for each other at all?

Here is the full schedule for NBA Rivals Week.

January 21st

New York Knicks at Brooklyn Nets (7:30 PM EST, TNT)

Philadelphia 76ers at Denver Nuggets (10 PM EST, TNT)

January 22nd

Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks (7:30 PM EST, ESPN)

Golden State Warriors at Sacramento Kings (10 PM EST, ESPN)

January 23rd

Miami Heat at Milwaukee Bucks (7:30 PM EST, TNT)

Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers (10 PM EST, TNT)

January 24th

New Orleans Pelicans at Memphis Grizzlies (8 PM EST, NBA TV)

January 25th

Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves (3 PM EST, ABC)

Boston Celtics at Dallas Mavericks (5:30 PM EST, ABC)

Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors (8:30 PM EST, ABC)