3 keys to a Cavs victory over the Knicks in their season opener

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ pursuit of the 2026 NBA title officially begins when they open their 2025-26 regular season on Wednesday. Cleveland will just so happen to take on a team that might be its biggest competition for the Eastern Conference crown, the New York Knicks.

New York solidified its supporting cast behind guard Jalen Brunson and big man Karl-Anthony Towns by adding the likes of Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson in the offseason. Plus, it has a more-than-capable head coach in Mike Brown.

Getting a win on the road in their season opener will be anything but easy for the Cavaliers, but if they are able to check three specific boxes, they will likely come out victorious. Let’s look at three keys to a Cavaliers victory and 1-0 start to the campaign.

1. Start Lonzo Ball with Darius Garland hurt

After a strong final preseason game against the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 14, Ball is ready to be a spot starter with Cleveland’s starting floor general sidelined.

Ball has the skill set to replace Garland in the lineup more seamlessly than any other candidate. Like Garland, he’s a highly adept playmaker, as he’s averaged at least 7.0 assists per contest in multiple NBA seasons. He will make sure the ball is consistently moving in Cleveland’s opening lineup.

Additionally, Ball is a serviceable 3-point shooter. For his career, he’s buried a solid 36.2 percent of his 3s and has a season where he’s shot better than 40.0 percent from deep under his belt.

To be clear, while Ball should start on Wednesday, he should only play around 20 minutes just to be safe. That’s more than enough time for him to put an imprint on the game on the offensive end.

2. Limit New York’s bench points

What was a weakness for the Knicks last season (depth) may very well now be a strength with the signings they made in the summer. Yabusele and Clarkson are capable scorers, and New York has strong role players such as Miles McBride and Landry Shamet behind them.

If the Cavaliers let the Knicks’ role players score the ball at a high rate on top of the offensive production they get from Brunson and Towns, they will be overwhelmed by a scoring avalanche and lose.

That’s why the Cavaliers’ point of emphasis should be to limit the Knicks’ bench to under 25 points. Clarkson is someone off the Knicks bench who the Cavaliers should be especially focused on keeping in check, as he’s been a great scorer off the pine for years now. He scored 16.2 points per game primarily in a reserve role with the Utah Jazz last season.

3. Rain down 3s on the Knicks

Cleveland was among the premier 3-point shooting teams in the league last season, and folks should expect that status quo to carry over into the 2025-26 campaign, considering the team is replete with 3-point shooters.

The Cavaliers blew a lot of games open with hot 3-point shooting, and if they can overwhelm the Knicks from deep from the get-go, the contest could be over well before the final buzzer sounds.

A whopping 20 made 3s or more would put Cleveland in the driver’s seat to come out on top, as it would take a herculean collective offensive effort from New York to keep up in the scoring column.