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Nikola Jokić and Anthony Edwards will take center stage when the Nuggets and Wolves meet during NBA Rivals Week.

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Ten games, 14 teams, four networks and five nights. That is NBA Rivals Week this year, the third edition of intense January scheduling to highlight team and individual rivalries.

This 2025 version comes fast, with all 10 games between Tuesday and Saturday. Some of the individual focus has been blurred, due to injuries (Joel Embiid’s left knee, Luka Dončić’s left calf) or other circumstances (Zion Williamson vs. Ja Morant has neither the history nor team sizzle most expected since they went No. 1-2 in the 2019 Draft).

Classic and budding rivalries between teams and players will take center stage for the third annual NBA Rivals Week.

Rivalries will be the focus of 10 nationally televised games across four networks over five days from Jan. 21-25. pic.twitter.com/xYLEfRhq5Z

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) August 15, 2024

But enough is going on for all 14 teams to have circled these games in red weeks or months ago. Here are five that hold particular interest:

1. Nuggets at Timberwolves (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET, ABC)

This is Round 2 of the rematch of last season’s Western Conference semifinals between these teams. It’s not a natural rivalry, based on geography or individual rancor, but there is some history. Besides Minnesota eliminating the defending champions last spring, there was that Game No. 82 Wolves victory back in 2018 that earned them a playoff spot at Denver’s expense. When these teams met on Nov. 1, also at Target Center, Nikola Jokić, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. combined to score 83 points but Minnesota’s bench topped Denver’s 31-13 in its 119-116 victory.

2. Celtics at Mavericks (Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

Dončić hasn’t played since Christmas after straining his left calf. The plan then was to evaluate that injury in a month. That puts Dallas right up against it for the rematch of the 2024 NBA Finals. This will be the first meeting since Boston beat the Mavs in five games, but both teams are unhappy with their recent play. The Mavericks were 4-9 through Monday since Dončić last played, while the Celtics are 4-4 in their last eight. As far as offensive and defensive rankings, though, Boston is third and fifth, respectively, while Dallas is hanging in at eighth and 12th. They play again Feb. 6 in Boston.

3. Heat at Bucks (Thursday, 7:30 p.m., TNT)

There’s no love between these franchises, not after meeting three times in the past five postseasons (Miami has won twice). They’re competing for the same space in the East, with only three games separating Milwaukee’s fourth place from Miami’s eighth as of Tuesday morning. There still might be some crankiness over the Bucks scooping up Damian Lillard when the Heat thought he was theirs before last season. And Miami has two players with Milwaukee roots — Tyler Herro, from suburban Greenfield, and Marquette product Jimmy Butler, who reportedly wants no part of the Bucks in trade speculation.

4. Celtics at Lakers (Thursday, 10 p.m. ET, TNT)

Two old guys in a nursing home, wearing “Celtics” and “Lakers” replica jerseys, will bang wheelchairs over this clash decades from now. That’s how much juice the NBA’s most storied rivalry has. When they’re not competing at a macro level (Boston has 18 championships to L.A.’s 17), they’re squaring off twice each regular season, pitting legends from Bill Russell, Jerry West, John Havlicek and Elgin Baylor to Paul Pierce, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. Now it’s Jayson Tatum vs. LeBron James (who could wind up as teammates in the All-Star mini-tourney).

5. Warriors at Kings (Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN)

In what has been a season below expectations for both teams, we’re counting on geography, history and predicaments to fuel this one. Golden State is 9-18 since its 12-3 start and just got smoked by 40 on Monday vs. the Celtics. This is its only road game (bus ride) interrupting eight straight at home. The Kings are playing their last at Golden 1 Center before hitting the road for six in a row and 10 of 12. Sacramento is 9-1 in its last 10 under new coach Doug Christie, a turnaround the Warriors surely covet. FYI: Stephen Curry’s lifetime numbers in 47 games vs. the Kings — 24.8 ppg, 6.8 apg, 43.4% on 3-pointers — are better than his career marks.

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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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