Advertisements
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ season tips off Thursday, Oct. 22, at Philadelphia against LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Cavaliers’ home opener is set for Saturday, Oct. 24, against the Brooklyn Nets.
Two additional games will be added later, pending the outcome of NBA Cup matchups, to complete the Cavaliers’ 82-game regular-season slate.
The Cavs, who made the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2018, will have 17 national television appearances:
-Six games on ESPN/ESPN App: Oct. 22 at Philadelphia (season opener), Nov. 11 at New York, Jan. 27 vs. Detroit, Jan. 29 at Toronto, Feb. 26 at Boston, and April 7 at San Antonio
-Four games on NBC/Peacock: Dec. 15 vs. San Antonio, Dec. 28 at Boston, Jan. 18 vs. Detroit (MLK Day), and March 9 at Detroit
-Four games on Peacock (Exclusive): Nov. 2 vs. Oklahoma City, Dec. 21 vs. New York, March 1 vs. Philadelphia, and March 29 vs. Miami
-Three games on Amazon Prime Video: Nov. 6 vs. Philadelphia (also on ESPN Radio), March 6 vs. Atlanta, and April 1 vs. Boston
NBA Cup:
Cleveland will also participate in the NBA Cup 2026, which will tip off Friday, Oct. 30 and continue through Friday, Nov. 27. Each NBA team will play four designated Group Play games on “Cup Nights”.
The Cavaliers will compete in East Group B against teams in their pool: Nov. 6 vs. Philadelphia (Prime), Nov. 13 at Miami, Nov. 20 vs. Indiana, and Nov. 25 at New York. The Quarterfinals (Friday, Dec. 4 and Saturday, Dec. 5) and Semifinals (Tuesday, Dec. 8 and/or Wednesday, Dec. 9) will take place in NBA team markets before the tournament concludes with the Championship on Friday, Dec. 11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Scheduling Notes:
The Cavaliers are currently scheduled to match up against each Eastern Conference opponent four times, except Boston (one home, two away), Charlotte (one home, two away), Miami (two home, one away), Orlando (one home, two away), Philadelphia (two home, one away) and Washington (two home, one away). Each Western Conference opponent will play the Cavaliers twice – once at Rocket Arena and once on the road. Additional games against opponents can be added pending Cleveland’s Emirates NBA Cup results.
-16 sets of back-to-back games, including four home-home sets (Nov. 6-7, Dec. 20-21, Feb. 16-17, April 4-5), five home-road sets (Oct. 28-29, Dec. 15-16, Dec. 27-28, Feb. 9-10, Feb. 25-26), four road-road sets (Jan. 2-3, Jan. 15-16, Feb. 3-4, March 11-12) and three road-home sets (Nov. 13-14, Jan. 29-30, March 31-April 1).
-The Cavaliers will have three four-game homestands (Nov. 14-20, Feb. 14-25, and March 20-29), three three-game homestands (Oct. 24-28, March 1-6, and April 1-5) and five two-game homestands (Nov. 6-7, Nov. 29-Dec. 1, Dec. 12-15, Dec. 20-21, and Feb. 6-9).
-Cleveland’s longest road trip is six games over a 10-day stretch (March 9-18). The team also has one four-game road trip (Jan. 11-16), three three-game road trips (Nov. 9-13, Jan. 21-25, Feb. 1-4) and five two-game road trips (Oct. 29-31, Dec. 16-18, Jan. 2-3, Feb. 10-12 and April 7-9).
-Holiday games include Halloween (Oct. 31 at Milwaukee), Veterans Day (Nov. 11 at New York), Thanksgiving Eve (Nov. 25 at New York), New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31 vs. LA Clippers) and MLK Day (Jan. 18 vs. Detroit).
-Two of Cleveland’s four Emirates NBA Cup games will take place at Rocket Arena (Nov. 6 vs. Philadelphia on Prime and Nov. 20 vs. Indiana).
-Five matinee games at home this season – Dec. 31 vs. LA Clippers (3:00 p.m. ET – New Year’s Eve), Jan. 9 vs. Denver (5:00 p.m. ET), Jan. 18 vs Detroit (12:00 p.m. ET – MLK Day), Feb. 14 vs. Phoenix (1:00 p.m. ET), and April 4 vs. Charlotte (3:00 p.m. ET).
-Cleveland will play 16 games in January, its busiest month of the regular season. The Cavaliers will play 14 games each in November, December and March; 12 in February; and six each in October and April.
-The Cavaliers will begin the 2027 calendar with 14 of 19 games on the road from Jan. 2 through Feb. 4.
-Cleveland will finish the season playing 8 of their last 11 games at home; The season finale will take place at Rocket Arena, where the Cavaliers face the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, April 11.