Here’s to the start of our week and the end of our year. It’s been a wild few days in the NBA. Mike Brown was unceremoniously fired, the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets made the first big trade of the season, and Amen Thompson went full wrestling heel on Tyler Herro.

The calendar turns over with a slate of cool matchups this week, headlined by the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder dueling on New Year’s Eve.

NBA national TV schedule

All times Eastern

10 p.m. ET Monday on NBA TV

Coolest matchup: The fireworks come from its backcourt on the other end of the floor, but Dallas touts a respectable defense — ranking seventh in defensive rebounding and 11th in both defensive rating and points against. Sacramento has wasp’s nest vibes right now, but it can indeed put numbers on the board — 10th in scoring and eighth in field goal percentage, with three Kings averaging 20 points a game.

New Year’s resolutions: The Mavericks will try to find a bench guy that can absorb minutes and show some kick with Luka Dončić sidelined. Like most New Year’s resolutions, it could be an afterthought by February as long as their superstar gets right. Sacramento should vow to be more patient in 2025 after canning its coach and the calamity that ensued. We all have the one stubborn friend that makes hilariously unrealistic resolutions.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder

8 p.m. ET Tuesday on NBA TV

Coolest matchup: The Timberwolves love the long ball, starting the week fifth in 3-point tries and makes. Anthony Edwards’ shot chart recalls prime Damian Lillard and Steph Curry at this point. OKC has the best defense in the sport and a cadre of rangy, pugnacious perimeter defenders.

It’s like a chain reaction ⛓️

Vote Thunder 🗳️ https://t.co/2FFNkzy5oU pic.twitter.com/rXmmDr2wK4

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 30, 2024

New Year’s resolutions: Minnesota should resolve to lower its anxiety — between the visceral whiplash of the Karl-Anthony Towns and Julius Randle exchange, the up-and-down play all season and the recent high-drama finishes, this group deserves to implement a mindfulness routine or something. No phones before bed, Wolves! The 26-5 Thunder really don’t need any resolutions, entering this week on an 11-game winning streak. They should simply vow to never lose again.

7:30 p.m. ET Thursday on TNT

Coolest matchup: Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum make for a compelling face-off. Both stars have a certain 2000s swagger about them, sometimes eschewing hyper-efficiency for tough fadeaways and hero ball. The former is averaging a shade under 25 points on a 30 percent usage rate, while the latter is scoring 28.5 a night, the second-best mark of his eight pro seasons.

Highlights of 2024: The Celtics won the NBA Finals and paraded through Boston with championship No. 18. Hard to beat that. The Timberwolves reached their first conference finals in two decades.

10 p.m. ET Thursday on TNT

Coolest matchup: Philly started in panic mode, and is 9-3 in its last 12 games. Golden State opened strong but is slumping mightily, having dropped 12 of its last 16. Another reminder of how long and serpentine an NBA season can truly be, and an elevator-doors moment for two primetime franchises.

Highlights of 2024: Maybe the Sixers’ best moment of the calendar year came just five days ago. Last spring’s playoff hopes were truncated by Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks, and the summer’s coup of Paul George is leaving much to be desired thus far. But that gutsy Christmas road win against the Celtics trumpeted some salvation of this season. For the Warriors, it sure feels like the peak of 2024 was Curry’s atomic performance in the first-ever Splash Bro Brawl.

New York Knicks at Oklahoma City Thunder

8 p.m. ET Friday on NBA TV

Coolest matchup: Oklahoma City has the best defensive rating in the league. New York has the second-best offensive rating. This should be a supremely fun one. Also, Isaiah Hartenstein revenge game watch!

Highlights of 2024: The Knicks had arguably their best season of the 21st century, then added Towns and Mikal Bridges in the offseason. The Thunder emerged as one of the NBA’s model franchises, made their biggest free-agent addition ever, and now sit atop the Western Conference with their top eight rotation players age 26 or younger. Both of these teams had themselves quite the 2024.

10:30 p.m. ET Friday on NBA TV

Coolest matchup: The Hawks run with the third-fastest pace in the league. The Lakers, lead by Anthony Davis roaming around the paint and LeBron James as a 40-year-old, are one of basketball’s slower teams. It makes for an interesting Friday night style clash.

New Year’s resolutions: Atlanta, keep trusting your intuition! This team developed a slow-blooming star in Jalen Johnson, completely nailed the Dyson Daniels signing and unlocked the best version of De’Andre Hunter off the bench. Let’s hope they’re patient with Zaccharie Risacher. Let’s see if they’ll make any deadline moves. As for the Lakers, well, resolve to appreciate life’s ephemeral nature. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer wears your jersey, and he’s still capable of doing remarkably cool stuff in it.

(Photo of Anthony Edwards: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)