LeBron James makes a return trip to Miami this week as the Lakers face the Heat in a key showdown.
The sprint to the finish line continues in Week 22 with a total of 54 games around the league, including these must-see matchups for all 30 teams.
All games are on NBA League Pass unless otherwise noted.
Eastern Conference
Atlanta Hawks
- Schedule: Monday vs. Magic (Peacock), Wednesday at Mavericks, Friday at Rockets, Saturday vs. Warriors
- Game To Watch: Monday vs. Magic (Peacock): The Hawks enter Monday’s matchup seeking their first double-digit winning streak since 2015, trying to become the fourth in the NBA this season to reach 10 straight wins or more, joining OKC (16), Detroit (13) and San Antonio (11). To do that, they’ll need to defeat the team with the second-longest active win streak in the East (Orlando, seven straight).
Boston Celtics
- Schedule: Monday vs. Suns, Wednesday vs. Warriors (ESPN), Friday at Grizzlies, Sunday vs. Timberwolves (NBC/Peacock)
- Game To Watch: Sunday vs. Timberwolves (NBC/Peacock): The last meeting between these teams – Nov. 29 in Minnesota – featured an epic duel between Anthony Edwards (41 points) and Jaylen Brown (39), with Edwards and the Wolves holding off the Celtics by four.
Brooklyn Nets
- Schedule: Monday vs. Trail Blazers, Wednesday vs. Thunder, Friday vs. Knicks, Sunday at Kings
- Game To Watch: Friday vs. Knicks: The Battle of the Boroughs has been defined by streaks over their last 22 matchups. The Nets won nine straight from Jan. 13, 2021 to Jan. 28, 2023, and the Knicks then won the next 13 meetings, including a 120-66 rout on Jan. 21.
Charlotte Hornets
- Schedule: Tuesday vs. Heat, Thursday vs. Magic (NBA TV), Saturday vs. Grizzlies
- Game To Watch: Tuesday vs. Heat: A potential SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament preview between the current No. 7 (Miami) and No. 10 (Charlotte) seeds in the East entering Week 22. With the Hornets looking to improve their seeding in the Play-In, winning head-to-head games against the teams they are chasing is crucial.
Chicago Bulls
- Schedule: Monday vs. Grizzlies, Wednesday vs. Raptors, Thursday vs. Cavaliers
- Game To Watch: Thursday vs. Cavaliers: Sitting at No. 12 in the East, the Bulls need wins if they hope to challenge for a Play-In berth. After Cleveland swept the season series with Chicago a year ago, the Bulls can clinch the series 3-1 with a win on Thursday.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- Schedule: Tuesday at Bucks (NBC/Peacock), Thursday at Bulls, Saturday at Pelicans
- Game To Watch: Tuesday at Bucks (NBC/Peacock): The Cavs look to clinch the season series over the Bucks for the second straight season, while also strengthening their hold on the No. 4 spot in the East. Cleveland enters Week 22 with a two-game lead on a surging Orlando squad that has won seven straight games.
Detroit Pistons
- Schedule: Tuesday at Wizards, Thursday at Wizards, Friday vs. Warriors (NBA TV)
- Game To Watch: Friday vs. Warriors (NBA TV): Detroit enters Week 22 seeking its first 50+ win season since 2007-08. The Pistons not only lead the East overall (48-19), but they have also been the East’s best team against the West (16-8 entering this week’s matchup with Golden State).
Indiana Pacers
- Schedule: Tuesday at Knicks, Wednesday vs. Trail Blazers, Saturday at Spurs
- Game To Watch: Tuesday at Knicks: While the Pacers have been officially eliminated from playoff contention, they have a chance to slow down a longtime rival that is still seeking the East’s top seed. Can the Pacers play spoiler and hand the Knicks a costly loss?
Miami Heat
- Schedule: Tuesday at Hornets, Thursday vs. Lakers, Saturday at Rockets
- Game To Watch: Thursday vs. Lakers: Two of the six active players to ever score 70 or more points in a game meet when Miami’s Bam Adebayo (83 points last week) welcomes L.A.’s Luka Dončić (73 points in 2024) to South Beach.
Milwaukee Bucks
- Schedule: Tuesday vs. Cavaliers (NBC/Peacock), Thursday at Jazz, Saturday at Suns (NBA TV)
- Game To Watch: Saturday at Suns (NBA TV): Trailing No. 10 Charlotte by 5 1/2 games for the final spot in the Play-In, the Bucks are desperate for wins to keep their postseason hopes alive. Will Saturday’s matchup vs. Phoenix spark a late-season run for Milwaukee?
New York Knicks
- Schedule: Tuesday vs. Pacers, Friday at Nets, Sunday vs. Wizards
- Game To Watch: Tuesday vs. Pacers: The Knicks enter this week riding a three-game win streak and aim to keep their upward trajectory going as they face the bottom three teams in the East. That run begins with the Pacers on Tuesday at MSG with New York looking to close the gap on No. 2 Boston.
Orlando Magic
- Schedule: Monday at Hawks (Peacock), Tuesday vs. Thunder, Thursday at Hornets (NBA TV), Saturday vs. Lakers (NBA TV)
- Game To Watch: Monday at Hawks (Peacock): Streaks collide on Peacock as the Magic test their seven-game win streak against the Hawks, who have won nine straight.
Philadelphia 76ers
- Schedule: Tuesday at Nuggets (NBC/Peacock), Thursday at Kings, Saturday at Jazz
- Game To Watch: Tuesday at Nuggets (NBC/Peacock): Philly enters the week 1 1/2 games behind No. 6 Toronto and two games back of No. 5 Orlando as the Sixers look to secure a guaranteed playoff spot. Coming off a home win over the Blazers on Sunday, the Sixers open a three-game West Coast road trip in Denver to face Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets in their toughest test of the week.
Toronto Raptors
- Schedule: Wednesday at Bulls, Friday at Nuggets, Sunday at Suns
- Game To Watch: Sunday at Suns: A matchup of two teams each toeing the line between the playoffs (top 6) and the Play-In (7-10) in their respective conferences. When they met last week in Toronto, the Raptors rallied past the Suns in the fourth quarter as Brandon Ingram’s game-high 36 points helped Toronto withstand 30+ point games from Jalen Green and Devin Booker.
Washington Wizards
- Schedule: Monday vs. Warriors, Tuesday vs. Pistons, Thursday vs. Pistons, Saturday vs. Thunder, Sunday at Knicks
- Game To Watch: Tuesday vs. Pistons: The Wizards host the East-leading Pistons for two straight games beginning on Tuesday to close out their season series, which is tied 1-1. Washington won the last matchup on Feb. 5 with eight Wizards scoring in double figures to offset Cade Cunningham’s game-high 30 points. Can Washington repeat that effort this week?
Western Conference
The Wolves and Suns are in the thick of the West playoff chase and meet this week in Minneapolis.
Dallas Mavericks
- Schedule: Monday at Pelicans, Wednesday vs. Hawks, Saturday vs. Clippers
- Game To Watch: Monday at Pelicans: Former high school teammates Cooper Flagg and Derik Queen meet for the fourth and final time as NBA rookies. Queen (16.7 ppg, 8 rpg, 6.3 apg, 48.6% FG) leads the head-to-head matchups 2-1, while Flagg holds a slight statistical edge (21.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 4.3 apg, 51% FG).
Denver Nuggets
- Schedule: Tuesday vs. 76ers (NBC/Peacock), Wednesday at Grizzlies, Friday vs. Raptors, Sunday vs. Trail Blazers (NBA TV)
- Game To Watch: Tuesday vs. 76ers (NBC/Peacock): The Nuggets are coming off a gut-wrenching loss to the Lakers on Saturday. This home matchup against Philly is their first chance to bounce back and keep pushing for a top-four seed in the West.
Golden State Warriors
- Schedule: Monday at Wizards, Wednesday at Celtics (ESPN), Friday at Pistons (NBA TV), Saturday at Hawks
- Game To Watch: Wednesday at Celtics (ESPN): On Sunday, the Warriors announced that Stephen Curry will miss at least another week (he hasn’t played since Jan. 30). That was moments before allowing a 21-point comeback by the Knicks to extend Golden State’s skid to five in the first game of a six-game road trip. The Warriors will try to bounce back on Monday in Washington before heading up to Boston to face the Celtics.
Houston Rockets
- Schedule: Monday vs. Lakers (Peacock), Wednesday vs. Lakers (ESPN), Friday vs. Hawks, Saturday vs. Heat
- Game To Watch: Monday vs. Lakers (Peacock): How important is Monday’s game for Houston? A Rockets win would not only clinch the season series (and the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Lakers), but also launch them over the Lakers and into the No. 3 seed in the West, as the two teams enter the matchup separated by just a half-game.
LA Clippers
- Schedule: Monday vs. Spurs (Peacock), Wednesday at Pelicans, Thursday at Pelicans, Saturday at Mavericks
- Game To Watch: Monday vs. Spurs (Peacock): Since LA began its remarkable in-season turnaround on Dec. 20, only the Spurs (29-11) have a better record than the Clippers (28-12) over the past 40 games. The difference? The Spurs rallied from 25 points down to stun the Clippers on March 6 in San Antonio. Can the Clippers avenge that loss this week in LA?
Los Angeles Lakers
- Schedule: Monday at Rockets (Peacock), Wednesday at Rockets (ESPN), Thursday at Heat, Saturday at Magic (NBA TV)
- Game To Watch: Monday at Rockets (Peacock): The Lakers must win this game to even the season series and set up Wednesday as a rubber match to determine the head-to-head tiebreakers between these two West elites. The Lakers are coming off a thrilling win over the Nuggets and will look to back it up with another win over a top-five team in the West.
Memphis Grizzlies
- Schedule: Monday at Bulls, Wednesday vs. Nuggets, Friday vs. Celtics, Saturday at Hornets
- Game To Watch: Monday at Bulls: The Grizzlies look to snap their seven-game slide when they visit the Bulls in the first of two meetings over the next two weeks between teams both on the outside looking in at their respective SoFi Play-In Tournament fields.
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Schedule: Tuesday vs. Suns, Wednesday vs. Jazz, Friday vs. Trail Blazers, Sunday at Celtics (NBC/Peacock)
- Game To Watch: Tuesday vs. Suns: This is a matchup of the final team in the playoff field (Minnesota at No. 6) and the first team in the Play-In field (Phoenix at No. 7), with only 1.5 games separating the two. The Suns already hold the head-to-head tiebreaker entering this final regular-season matchup, making this a crucial game for the Wolves if they hope to keep the Suns at bay.
New Orleans Pelicans
- Schedule: Monday vs. Mavericks, Wednesday vs. Clippers, Thursday vs. Clippers, Saturday vs. Cavaliers
- Game To Watch: Wednesday vs. Clippers: In addition to the Derik Queen vs. Cooper Flagg matchup on Monday, the Pelicans host the Clippers in a back-to-back set, looking to avoid the season sweep at the hands of the Clippers.
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Schedule: Tuesday at Magic, Wednesday at Nets, Saturday at Wizards
- Game To Watch: Tuesday at Magic: The Thunder will open a five-game road trip in Orlando and look to keep two streaks going – the team seeks its ninth straight win, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks to extend his record streak of 20+ point games to 129 (and counting).
Phoenix Suns
- Schedule: Monday at Celtics, Tuesday at Timberwolves, Thursday at Spurs, Saturday vs. Bucks (NBA TV), Sunday vs. Raptors
- Game To Watch: Monday at Celtics: After seeing their four-game win streak snapped on Friday, the Suns look to bounce back in Boston – the fourth stop on Phoenix’s road trip – on Monday. Can the Suns keep the pressure on the Wolves and Nuggets (just 1.5 games ahead) for the final top-6 spot in the West?
Portland Trail Blazers
- Schedule: Monday at Nets, Wednesday at Pacers, Friday at Timberwolves, Sunday at Nuggets (NBA TV)
- Game To Watch: Sunday at Nuggets (NBA TV): The teams enter this matchup with the season series tied 1-1, but not in a traditional way. Portland edged out Denver by two points on Halloween, while the Nuggets rolled to a 56-point win when they last met in Portland. Can the Blazers avenge that loss and return the favor in Denver?
Sacramento Kings
- Schedule: Tuesday vs. Spurs, Thursday vs. 76ers, Sunday vs. Nets
- Game To Watch: Tuesday vs. Spurs: The Kings enter Week 22 having won two straight and four of their last five games. As they look to keep lighting beams, the Kings will welcome back De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes when they host the Spurs on Tuesday. While Fox is 2-1 against his former team, he has yet to win as a visitor in Sacramento.
San Antonio Spurs
- Schedule: Monday at Clippers (Peacock), Tuesday at Kings, Thursday vs. Suns, Saturday vs. Pacers
- Game To Watch: Monday at Clippers (Peacock): When these teams met on March 6, the Spurs rallied from 25 points down to stun the Clippers in San Antonio. This week, the Spurs will look to do it again, sending a message to a potential first-round playoff opponent in a No. 2 vs. No. 7 matchup.
Utah Jazz
- Schedule: Wednesday at Timberwolves, Thursday vs. Bucks, Saturday vs. Sixers
- Game To Watch: Wednesday at Timberwolves: Having dropped three straight games, the Jazz look to snap that skid when they visit the Timberwolves for their final meeting of the regular season. Each of the teams’ last two games in this matchup has been decided by seven points or less.
