In the 2022-2023 NBA regular season calendar, the league unveiled its first-ever NBA Rivals Week. This will feature 11 games of the longstanding and growing rivalries in the league that will stretch from January 24 to January 28, 2023.
Let’s discuss the best matchups that all basketball fans should look out for.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics make up the ultimate NBA rivalry. The friction between these two teams began when Wilt Chamberlain dominated for the Lakers and Bill Russell for the Celtics as they were the top two candidates for the MVP award during their era. Chamberlain and Russell were able to receive the prestigious accolade a combined eight times from 1960 to 1970. They remained really close friends until their face-off in the 1969 finals when Boston got away with a two-point lead in Game 7.
After that, we witnessed several eras of the Los Angeles-Boston rivalry with Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird in the ’80s and Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol versus Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen in the late 2000s. Time and time again, the games between the NBA's two most decorated teams have provided the finest entertainment for basketball fans. We will see more of this intense action now that both teams are tied with 17 championships and are believed to have high title hopes this coming season.
Denver Nuggets vs. Philadelphia 76ers
The Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers don’t have a long history of being rivals, unlike the Lakers and Celtics. However, what makes the matchup so interesting is that the top two centers in the league, Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, will be facing each other.
Jokic has won the MVP award in the last two seasons with Embiid finishing second twice. The Denver big man is known for his superb passing and playmaking skills, while Embiid is an unstoppable force inside and outside the paint.
This duel may provide an opportunity for the league and fans to better assess who deserves the MVP award in the new season.
Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns
Another quality bout is the rematch of last year’s Western Conference semifinals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns. In every Game 7 of a series where the stakes are high, it is expected to be the most intense and thrilling fight. However, the Mavs’ blowout of the top-seeded Suns came as a shocker after Dallas led by as high as 46 points in the first half on Phoenix’s home floor. Mavericks’ top scorer Luka Doncic tallied 35 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists in the match without even playing in the fourth quarter.
All Suns fans who saw the team's final game of the season have a meme of Doncic grinning at a frustrated Devin Booker stuck in their heads. With that, the Suns will undoubtedly recalibrate during this offseason for a new mission: to reclaim the top spot in the regular season rankings and to shut down their Dallas rivals.
Golden State Warriors vs. Memphis Grizzlies
The last one on the list definitely shouldn’t go unnoticed. The Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies played an extremely intense and physical series in the Western Conference semifinals. The Warriors overpowered the Grizzlies and went on to win their fourth championship in the last eight seasons. Despite the Warriors’ clear victory, the Grizzlies were still able to put up a fight and challenge Golden State’s high-caliber lineup that consisted of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
Players were really putting their bodies against each other and fighting for loose balls, as seen by Green being ejected in Game 1 for a hard foul on Brandon Clarke and Dillon Brooks being ejected in Game 2 for a hard foul on Gary Payton II. The intensity was tremendous throughout the entire series and it should be the same when these two squads meet during Rivals Week.
The four matchups that were mentioned are definitely only the tip of the iceberg. There are also notable choices such as the New York Knicks versus Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers versus the L.A. Lakers. Nonetheless, all rivalries—may they be the classic face-off or a budding feud—will be thrilling and give fans something to look forward to even during the long NBA season.
