Top-5 games Cavs fans will want to see in 2023-24 season

The Cleveland Cavaliers released their full official schedule for the 2023-24 season back in August.

Cleveland opened the 2023-24 regular season with a game against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center on Oct. 25, winning in a tight contest. A matchup with the Charlotte Hornets on April 14 will cap off what could be a defining regular season for the Cavaliers. Cleveland finished the 2022-23 season with an April game against the Hornets in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, which saw guard Sam Merrill score 17 points and hit 50% of his tries from the field on the Cavs’ home court.

Cleveland will have its fair share of challenging and exciting matchups as it moves through its 2023-24 campaign.

It will take on the defending champion Denver Nuggets for the first time on Nov. 19 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The first of its four Group Stage games for the inaugural NBA In-Season tournament will tip off on Nov. 3, when the Cavs face the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Cavs will have the opportunity to take on the San Antonio Spurs and forward Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, at home on Jan. 7.

What are some of the top games Cavs fans could watch during the 2023-24 season?

Cavs vs. Thunder: Oct. 27

Cleveland will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in its first game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse of the season.

An exciting Thunder lineup featuring All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, guard Josh Giddey, forward Jalen Williams and center Chet Holmgren will face a Cavs roster with a few new additions from the 2023 offseason. Holmgren missed the entire 2022-23 season with a Lisfranc injury in his right foot. He played in two games of the Thunder’s NBA Summer League run, averaging 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds.

The game will be the first of three-straight home games for the Cavs. Some of the Cavaliers’ newer players, including forwards Max Strus, Georges Niang and guard Ty Jerome, will have plenty of time to acclimate with Cleveland’s home crowd before they face the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden.

The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Oct. 27 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Cavs vs. Nets: Jan 11

Cavs fans will be able to watch Cleveland’s first-ever contest in Europe when it takes on Brooklyn in January.

The Cavs will travel to Paris, France, to face the Nets in Accor Arena. Cleveland had played in preseason games in Shanghai, China, in 2007 and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2015.

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Detroit Pistons in a 126-108 victory in the 2023 Paris Game. Bulls guards DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine combined for 56 points in the French capital, hitting 50% of their 38 field goal attempts as they stopped on a dime for pull-up jump shots and weaved past Detroit’s defense for tries at the rim.

Cleveland went 2-1 against the Nets during its 2022-23 campaign. It finished its last matchup against Brooklyn with a 116-114 win in the Barclays Center. Cavs forward Isaac Okoro hit a game-winning 3-point shot on Brooklyn’s home floor, carefully moving out to the left corner before sinking a wide-open long-range shot with less than one second remaining.

The game will tip off at 2 p.m. EDT on Jan. 11. It will be broadcasted on beIN SPORTS and NBA League Pass, according to a July release.

Cavs @ Celtics: Dec. 12

The Cavs will have the chance to see how they stack up with some of the Eastern Conference’s more formidable opponents when they face the Boston Celtics in December. The game will be the first of a back-to-back series against Boston and Cleveland’s last matchup with one of the East’s top contenders before March 5.

Boston made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023. They pushed the Miami Heat to seven games after falling to a 3-0 deficit. Still, they could not pull off the comeback series victory after Heat forwards Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin combined for 54 points at TD Garden in Game 7.

Cleveland went 3-1 against Boston during the 2022-23 season. All three wins were overtime victories, including the 132-123 win in October that saw Cavs guards Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert score 41 points apiece. The dynamic duo of forward Jayson Tatum and guard Jaylen Brown will return for another run in the 2023-24 season.

The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Dec. 12 in TD Garden.

Cavs @ 76ers: Nov. 21

The Cavs will take on the Philadelphia 76ers in their third Group Stage game of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.

Even with the uncertainty surrounding guard James Harden, the Cavs will still have to find a way to lock down center Joel Embiid, guard Tyrese Maxey and forward Tobias Harris. Embiid, the 2022-23 MVP and a two-time scoring champion, averaged 28 points per game during the three games he played in against the Cavaliers.

If Cleveland is able to take victories over the Pacers, Pistons and 76ers in the Group Stage, they will have a solid chance of taking the top spot in the Group A standings and moving on to the single-game elimination rounds of the tournament. The game will be the first of four matchups against Philadelphia.

The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. EDT in the Wells Fargo Center. The game will be broadcasted on TNT.

Cavs vs. Knicks: Oct. 31

A playoff rematch in Cleveland on Halloween.

What could be better?

The game will be the first of a back-to-back series against New York. The Cavs will face off against the Knicks in the Garden the next day. Just as they were in the playoffs, the Cavs will be tested against New York to see if they have improved from their five-game NBA playoff series and taken the needed steps to become a contender in the Eastern Conference.

The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Oct. 31 in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. It will be broadcasted on TNT.