And so begins another week in the NBA’s house of mirrors, with more spectacle engulfing Jimmy Butler and the league’s second 15-game win streak in less than three months.

There are a few bangers on this week’s schedule. The defending champions scale the mountain to duel with Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, while the teams with the best record in each conference face off Wednesday night. Here’s your viewer’s guide to the week ahead in professional basketball.

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NBA national TV schedule

For games Jan. 6-10. All times Eastern.

Phoenix Suns at Philadelphia 76ers

7 p.m. ET Monday on NBA TV

Philadelphia’s about-face seems legit. After opening at a nightmarish 3-14, the Sixers have won nine of their last 13 games. Their last three losses are excusable — a back-to-back in Sacramento and Golden State is wonky, and who isn’t losing at Cleveland these days? The trio of Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid is at plus-5.4 on the floor, and the former MVP center is averaging more than 26 points in fewer than 29 minutes since December.

The Sixers start a three-game home stand against the Suns, whose season is the inverse of Philly’s. Phoenix started 9-2 but hits Monday’s action on a four-game losing streak and on the wrong side of seven of its last eight. The Suns started the New Year with a thumping from the Pacers and have tumbled all the way down to 25th in defensive rating. Bradley Beal is shooting 35.8 percent from the field amid the losing streak.

Miami Heat at Sacramento Kings

10 p.m. ET Monday on NBA TV

This has become the Bad Vibes Bowl, presented with limited commercial interruption by Jimmy Butler and Vivek Ranadivé. Butler is out, suspended by Miami shortly after publicizing a trade request. Ranadivé is reportedly responsible for firing Mike Brown, who was a unanimous Coach of the Year selection in Sacramento just 18 months prior. But there are a few silver (and purple) linings for Monday’s game — the Kings have won four straight and are up to seventh in offensive rating, while Tyler Herro has definitively leveled up for the Heat.

Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas Mavericks

7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday on TNT

Los Angeles has won four of its last six outings, and Austin Reaves has double-digit dimes in five of them. Once again, reports of LeBron James’ decline were greatly exaggerated. The same goes for Klay Thompson, who looks decidedly un-washed after pulling 47/40/85 shooting splits last month. Kyrie Irving seems to relish national-stage spots against James, but he missed Monday’s game against the Grizzlies due to illness.

Boston Celtics at Denver Nuggets

10 p.m. ET Tuesday on TNT

A supremely cool matchup in terms of top-level stardom, TNT’s Tuesday nightcap features the two most recent NBA champions. The 26-10 Celtics are top-six in both offensive and defensive ratings and sit third in Basketball Reference’s simple rating system (SRS). No team tries or makes more treys. And despite the Cleveland Cavaliers’ torrid start, Boston remains BetMGM’s comfortable favorite to win the Eastern Conference at -105 to Cleveland’s +450. This offense is still grooving and will look to reintegrate Kristaps Porziņģis throughout the month.

Denver starts the week at 20-14, having split a home-and-home with the Spurs over the weekend. This team is 30th in 3s attempted but first in 2s. It should make for an intriguing, if messy, style clash. Jokić is a few assists shy of averaging a 31-point triple-double while leading the league in 3-point percentage and notching a career-best 1.7 steals per game. He is appointment television for all of 2025.

ANOTHER FORTY POINTS FOR JOKER

40 PTS / 6 REB / 10 AST pic.twitter.com/PVMB1Rfa8e

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 5, 2025

Oklahoma City Thunder at Cleveland Cavaliers

7 p.m. ET Wednesday on ESPN

This one has game-of-the-year potential and rightfully celebrates the league’s two most dynamic teams thus far. The Thunder arrive in Cleveland having strung together 15 straight regular-season wins (their loss to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup Championship is not included in their record), tying these Cavaliers for the longest streak of the season. Don’t worry; the Cavs carry a 10-game winning streak of their own into Wednesday’s tip.

These teams have combined to go 61-9 through 70 total games. At 30-5, OKC has the best defense in the sport and the top net rating. At 31-4, the Cavaliers are on a historic 72-win pace and lead the league with a 50.4 team shooting percentage. Both sides are top-10 in pace yet top-three in turnovers.

Perhaps most affirming is the knowledge that neither side fast-passed its way to success. No one would mistake Cleveland or Oklahoma City as a glamour market in free agency. Both cores were built largely through the draft, with savvy and ambitious trades to land their respective leaders in Donovan Mitchell and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It’s as if a basketball super-nerd’s fanfiction was fully actualized.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Mitchell are the headliners, of course. SGA is the current clubhouse leader for MVP, sitting at -165 odds off the strength of 31.8 points per game and sublime defensive presence. Across almost 900 minutes this season, Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort are a plus-16 on the court together. They are two of the five Thunder players averaging at least a full steal per outing.

But if any opponent has the fortitude and confidence to challenge OKC, it’s this group in Cleveland. The Celtics may lead the league in 3-point makes and attempts, but no one is more efficient behind the arc than these Cavs. Mitchell is having far and away his best season shooting the 3 ball, and he has eight 30-point games. Evan Mobley and Darius Garland are each having the best run of their pro careers, and the bench is loaded with likable underdogs that can microwave offense when needed.

Wednesday’s game could be a Finals preview, but predicting June’s outcomes in January feels like a fool’s errand. Instead, let’s appreciate this matchup as it is — two balanced, inspired squads that take the regular season seriously and routinely put on a show for the viewing public. The Cleveland crowd should be appropriately raucous.

San Antonio Spurs at Milwaukee Bucks

9:30 p.m. ET Wednesday on ESPN

The 2024-25 Spurs look a step ahead of where they were expected to be, and the Bucks salvaged the season with their resurgence around the NBA Cup. Both sides are playing respectable ball and start the week above .500. But this matchup is primetime because of two people — Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama.

San Antonio’s ascendant Frenchman has become the league’s all-time leader in “stocks” (blocks + steals) per game, beating out Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson. His 3.9 stuffs per night is the best in basketball by a Wembanyama-sized margin — the difference between him and Walker Kessler at No. 2 is a full 1.4 blocks, which alone would match Rudy Gobert’s mark this season.

Wembanyama may lead the NBA in blocks for the remainder of his playing days, but if he keeps developing his perimeter game on such high volume, he’ll almost certainly earn a scoring title at some juncture. He’s trying more than nine treys a game and looks increasingly comfortable initiating his own offense.

The incumbent scoring leader is Antetokounmpo, averaging 32.3 points on an absurd 60 percent from the floor. The Greek megastar has multiple MVPs, a Defensive Player of the Year award and a Larry O’Brien Trophy, yet he’s found another way to up his game.

What an impressive sequence from Giannis! pic.twitter.com/b3cDMeaeRB

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 3, 2025

Giannis vs. Wemby is a celebration of all things we never thought possible in this sport.

(Photo by Juan Ocampo / NBAE via Getty Images)