CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavs will be one of the main attractions during the NBA’s opening week.
Announced early Tuesday morning, in advance of the full 2025-26 schedule release, Cleveland will tip off its season with a visit to the New York Knicks on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. — a chance to renew the rivalry that began in the 2023 playoffs.
Cavs-Knicks will be part of ESPN’s opening week doubleheader that also features the NBA debut of Dallas Mavericks prized rookie Cooper Flagg.
Coming off a historic 64-win regular season, the second-most wins in franchise history, the Cavs are considered one of the Eastern Conference favorites — and it’s clear that schedule-makers are going to treat them that way.
Cleveland will also appear on a pair of marquee dates: Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
On Dec. 25, as part of the highly-anticipated five-game lineup, the Cavs will be in New York for another showdown with the rival Knicks — an opponent that bullied Cleveland out of the playoffs in five non-competitive games three years ago and is considered its greatest threat to the conference crown. It will be the first Christmas appearance since the LeBron James era. Tipoff is at noon.
Then on Jan. 19, the Cavs will be one of eight teams on the MLK Day schedule, with a meeting at home against reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City at 2:30 p.m. It’s the Thunder’s only regular season visit to Cleveland — a matchup that will air on NBC and Peacock as part of a quadrupleheader that also includes Milwaukee at Atlanta, Dallas at New York, and Boston at Detroit.
While some NBA Cup games are set to be released on Wednesday, the full schedule — 80 of the 82 games for each team — will be unveiled Thursday. The remaining two games will be filled in December based on how teams fare in the NBA Cup.
With holiday appearances and plenty of national TV exposure, Cleveland is back in the NBA spotlight.
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