How does the Cavs schedule look for the 2024-25 season?
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— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) August 15, 2024
Early season notes
Clevelands’ pre-season consists of two contests versus Chicago and then games against Indiana and Detroit. All four games will be against divisional rivals.
October 23 marks the start of another regular season for Cleveland as they take on the Toronto Raptors on the road. The Cavs will be the favorite to win this game as Toronto looks to build the chemistry of their new core consisting of Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, and RJ Barrett.
Game two is the home opener and former Cavs Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s first game back in Cleveland after being released following the 2024 playoffs.
Game three is the first of 16 back-to-backs. 16 back-to-backs currently tie for the most with five other teams.
NBA teams total back-to-backs for the 2024-25 season based on my count:
CLE: 16
HOU: 16
LAC: 16
OKC: 16
SAC: 16
WAS: 16
ATL: 15
BKN: 15
DEN: 15
MIL: 15
NOP: 15
MEM: 15
MIA: 15
NYK: 15
PHI: 15
PHX: 15
SAS: 15
TOR: 15
CHA: 14
GSW: 14
IND: 14
MIN: 14
UTA:…— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) August 15, 2024
Games 1-3 involve opponents who lost more than they won last year, which is beneficial to implementing the new offensive system under Kenny Atkinson.
Games 4-10 call for matchups against teams who all won 46 or more games the year prior.
Schedule analysis + NBA Cup
From November 9 to December 9, the Cavaliers play 15 games with nine coming against teams with losing records last season.
The NBA Cup is back, and the Cavs’ first group play game will take place on November 15 against Chicago. The rest of Cleveland’s group play games will occur over the next three weeks, with contests against Boston, Atlanta, and Washington.
From December 20 versus Milwaukee until February 10 against Minnesota, the Cavs face a brutal gauntlet of opponents. Of those 26 games, 17 will feature teams who made the playoffs last year. During this stretch, the Cavaliers will play six back-to-backs!
In March, the schedule becomes tough again as they will play 10 road games, the most of any month.
As the season closes, the Cavs play the Pacers and Knicks in their final back-to-back, followed by one last home challenge versus the Pacers.
Cleveland will play in eight national TV games plus eight NBATV games.
Closing Thoughts
Somehow, the Cavs lost a national TV game this season.
No Christmas Day game, a slate the Cavs have been absent from since 2017.
The early stretch of games should provide a unique opportunity to clean up their schemes before facing the Knicks and Lakers in games 4 and 5.
The trade deadline is February 6 this season. The schedule around that point appears to be tough, potentially creating some tense moments as the team looks to make this core work.
On FanDuel, the Cleveland Cavaliers win total line sits at 48.5.
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