On Wednesday evening, the Cleveland Cavaliers will hit the road to take on the New York Knicks in what will be the first game of the 2025-26 NBA season for both teams. The Cavaliers and Knicks are viewed by many to be the clear favorites in the Eastern Conference this season considering the current state of other would-be contending teams in the East.
There had been some question leading into this matchup about the status of Cavs forward De'Andre Hunter, whom the team acquired from the Atlanta Hawks at the trade deadline last season.
Shortly before tip-off on Wednesday, fans got their answer.
“…starting small forward De’Andre Hunter is OUT for the season opener against the Knicks,” reported NBA insider Chris Fedor of cleveland.com on X, formerly Twitter.
Hunter is now one of multiple key Cavs contributors who will miss the game vs the Knicks, including point guard Darius Garland and wing Max Strus, both of whom are expected to miss the opening chunk of the season with their respective injuries.
Meanwhile, the Knicks will be without forward Josh Hart and center Mitchell Robinson for this matchup, with big man Karl-Anthony Towns' status also in some doubt ahead of this contest.
This being the case, the final result on Wednesday might not provide a ton of insight into who is actually the more legitimate threat to win the East between the Cavs and Knicks. Still, both teams would obviously like to start their seasons off on the right foot and send an early message as the season gets underway.
In any case, the Cavs and Knicks are set to tip things off at 7:00 PM ET from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN following the network's first “Inside the NBA” pregame show in its new format.
