We won’t know who the Cavs will be playing until Friday evening.
We don’t know who the Cleveland Cavaliers will be playing in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. We do, however, know when that will take place.
The NBA announced early Monday morning that the Cavs will play on Easter Sunday, April 20, along with the other two top seeds in both conferences. The time and opponent are yet to be determined.
The schedule for Game 1s in the First Round of the #NBAPlayoffs presented by Google ⬇️
More information will be provided as it is finalized. pic.twitter.com/vBIQMNYa3C
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 14, 2025
This is just an educated guess, but it seems likely that the Cavs will be the 1 PM game. They likely won’t put a Western Conference game in the 1 PM slot because it would be too early for teams in a later time zone. Additionally, it stands to reason that the league would like to showcase the Boston Celtics in a more coveted later slot, given their large fan base. By process of elimination, that would leave the Cavs as the 1 PM game.
Cleveland won’t know who they play in the first round until Friday evening. Three Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament games will take place to determine the seventh and eighth seeds.
The Atlanta Hawks take on the Orlando Magic on Tuesday at 7:30. The winner of that game will be the seventh seed. The loser of that game will have a chance to be in the playoffs as the eighth seed.
The loser of the Magic vs. Hawks game will take on the winner of Wednesday’s game between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. That third Play-In Tournament game will take place on Friday, April 18. The winner of that game will take on the Cavs.