The favorites in the Eastern Conference open their season tonight at Madison Square Garden when the Cleveland Cavaliers take the court against the New York Knicks.
The Knicks have a new coach – Tom Thibodeau out, Mike Brown in – but they remain Jalen Brunson’s team. He and his Villanova running mates now have had a full season playing with Karl-Anthony Townes which will help. That said, there are already injuries in Manhattan. Josh Hart (back) is out tonight. The Knicks have yet to play a game, but Mitchell Robinson (rest) is being held out as a precaution. The aforementioned Townes (quad) is a question mark for tonight’s game as well. Fortunately for the Knicks, they are a deeper squad than they were a season ago. Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele were the big additions. With the injured expected back soon and the new faces, the Knicks expect to make a deep run in the Playoffs and ultimately, party like its 1999.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have added a few pieces in hopes of making a championship run as well but like the Knicks, they will not start the season at full strength. Darius Garland (toe) and Max Strus (foot) are out, and De’Andre Hunter is questionable (knee). As mentioned, though, reinforcements exist for Head Coach Kenny Atkinson. Lonzo Ball arrived in a trade with the Bulls for Isaac Okoro. That move will play an obviously major role to start the season with Garland still on the shelf. Other additions include the return to Cleveland of Larry Nance, Jr. and the arrival of former Duke guard Tyrese Proctor via the Draft.
While there are other teams who will make noise in the East this season, these are the heavyweights, and they meet in Game 1 of the season tonight.
Lets dive deeper into the matchup and see where the numbers take us.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the
latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to watch the Cavaliers at the Knicks live
- Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
- Time: 7:00PM EST
- Site: Madison Square Garden
- City: New York, NY
- Network/Streaming: ESPN
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Game odds for the Cavaliers at the Knicks
The latest odds as of Wednesday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: Cleveland Cavaliers (-125), New York Knicks (+105)
- Spread: Cavaliers -1.5
- Total: 228.5 points
That gives the Cavaliers an implied team point total of 113.9, and the Knicks113.12.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
Expected Starting Lineups
Cavaliers
G Lonzo Ball (2024-25 Season: 35GP, 7.6ppg, 3.4reb/gm, 3.3ast/gm)
G Donovan Mitchell (2024-25 Season: 71GP, 24ppg, 4.5reb/gm, 5ast/gm)
F Evan Mobley (2024-25 Season: 71GP, 18.5ppg, 9.3reb/gm, 3.2ast/gm)
F De’Andre Hunter (2024-25 Season: 64GP, 17ppg, 4.0reb/gm, 1.4ast/gm)
C Jarrett Allen (2024-25 Season: 82GP, 13.5ppg, 9.7reb/gm, 1.9ast/gm)
Knicks
G Jalen Brunson (2024-25 Season: 65GP, 26ppg, 2.9reb/gm, 7.3ast/gm)
G Mikal Bridges (2024-25 Season: 82GP, 17.6ppg, 3.2reb/gm, 3.7ast/gm)
F OG Anunoby (2024-25 Season: 74GP, 18ppg, 4.8reb/gm, 2.2ast/gm)
F Karl-Anthony Townes (2024-25 Season: 72GP, 24.4ppg, 12.8reb/gm, 3.1ast/gm)
C Guerschon Yabusele (2024-25 Season: 70GP, 11ppg, 5.6reb/gm, 2.1ast/gm)
Important stats, trends and insights ahead of Cavaliers at Knicks on Wednesday
- The Cavaliers won each of the 4 games against the Knicks last season
- The Cavaliers won by 6 in each of the meetings at MSG
- The Cavaliers were 4-0 ATS last season against the Knicks
- The Under went 3-1 in the 4 games
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s Cavaliers & Knicks game:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play on the Cleveland Cavaliers on the Moneyline.
- Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Cleveland Cavaliers -1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Game Total of 228.5.
Want even more NBA best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert NBA Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and over/under picks for every game on today’s calendar!
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NBA Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
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