Cavaliers schedule has them in national spotlight as they plan for long postseason run

The Cavaliers' 2025-26 regular-season schedule ends on April 12, but they plan on playing deep into June. The highly anticipated season schedule was announced Thursday, and it's one Cleveland fans hope they'll never forget. The Cavs appear to be one of the most talented teams in the NBA and have aspirations of getting to the NBA Finals. The season tips off with consecutive road games, beginning on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at the New York Knicks at 7 p.m. The matchup between top Eastern Conference contenders will be nationally televised on ESPN. It will be the first of 24 appearances on national TV. The Cavs will remain in the Big Apple for a matchup against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. The 2025-26 home opener is set for Sunday, Oct. 26, against the Milwaukee Bucks at 6 p.m. They also host the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 19. The national TV games are as follows: Seven games on ESPN/ESPN App: Oct. 22 at New York, Oct. 29 at Boston, Jan. 14 at Philadelphia, Jan. 21 at Charlotte, Jan. 28 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, Feb. 27 at Detroit and March 11 at Orlando. Five games on NBC/Peacock: Dec. 29 at San Antonio, Jan. 19 vs. OKC, Feb. 24 vs. New York, March 17 at Milwaukee and March 24 vs. Orlando. Five games exclusively on Peacock: Oct. 27 at Detroit, Nov. 17 vs. Milwaukee, Nov. 24 at Toronto, Dec. 22 vs. Charlotte and Jan. 26 vs. Orlando. Four games on Amazon Prime Video: Nov. 21 vs. Indiana, Jan. 10 vs. Minnesota, April 2 at Golden State and April 10 at Atlanta. Three games on ABC/ESPN App: Dec. 25 at New York (Christmas Day, which will also be broadcast on ESPN Radio), Feb. 22 at OKC and March 8 vs. Boston. Local game telecast information will be announced at a later date. Among the highlights of the 41 games at Rocket Arena will be two visits from defending East champion Indiana (Nov. 21 on Prime and April 5) and the Boston Celtics (Nov. 30 and March 8 on ABC/ESPN App). Additional marquee opponents making their lone visit to Cleveland this season include the Houston Rockets on Nov. 19, the San Antonio Spurs on Dec 5, the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 6, the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 2, the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 10 (Prime), the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 28 (ESPN/ESPN App), the New York Knicks on Feb. 24 (NBC/Peacock), and the Dallas Mavericks on March 15. On the road, the Cavs will make history by taking part in the NBA's first Peacock-exclusive broadcast when they square off against the Pistons on Oct. 27. Additionally, they will be playing on Christmas Day for the first time since 2017 when they visit Madison Square Garden to face the Knicks in a nationally televised matchup on ABC/ESPN App. Among the other highlights of the schedule are: Fourteen sets of back-to-back games, including four home-home sets (Dec. 5-6, Dec. 22-23, March 8-9, March 24-25), seven home-road sets (Oct. 26-27, Nov. 23-24, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, Jan. 23-24, Feb. 19-20, Feb. 24-25, April 5-6), one road-road set (March 30-31) and two road-home sets (Nov. 7-8, Nov. 12-13). The Cavs' longest homestand is six games over 11 days (Nov. 13-23), featuring contests vs. Toronto (Nov. 13), Memphis (Nov. 15), Milwaukee (Nov. 17), Houston (Nov. 19), Indiana (Nov. 21) and the L.A. Clippers (Nov. 23). Cleveland's longest road trip will be five games over an 11-day stretch (Jan. 30-Feb. 9). The team also has four three-game road trips (Dec. 25-29, Feb. 21-March 1, March 17-21, and March 30-April 2) and eight two-game road trips. Holiday games include Halloween (Oct. 31 vs. Toronto), Christmas Day (Dec. 25 at New York on ABC/ESPN App & ESPN Radio), New Year's Eve (Dec. 31 vs. Phoenix), MLK Day (Jan. 19 vs. Oklahoma City on NBC/Peacock), St. Patrick's Day (March 17 at Milwaukee on NBC/Peacock) and Easter (April 5 vs. Indiana). Two of Cleveland's four Emirates NBA Cup games will take place at Rocket Arena (Oct. 31 vs. Toronto and Nov. 21 vs. Indiana on Prime). Six matinee games at home : Wednesday, Dec. 31, vs. Phoenix at 3:30 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 4, vs. Detroit at 2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 10, vs. Minnesota at 1 p.m., Monday, Jan. 19, vs. Oklahoma City at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, March 8, vs. Boston at 1 p.m., and Sunday, March 15 vs. Dallas at 3:30 pm. The Cavs will finish the season playing 20 of their last 33 games on the road; The season finale will take place at Rocket Arena when Cleveland will host Washington on Sunday, April 12. Single-game tickets for all regular season home games and two preseason home games at Rocket Arena will go on sale to the public in mid-September at Cavs.com/Schedule. Bob Finnan can be reached at rfinnan30@gmail.com. Follow him @BobCavsinsider on X.