Cavs Opponents, Schedule Revealed For NBA In-Season Tournament Week

The Cleveland Cavaliers will play one home game and one road game each while the NBA In-Season Tournament rolls along.

Eliminated from NBA In-Season Tournament contention on Tuesday night despite a dominant performance in a decisive win over the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers now know what they'll be doing next week.

On Dec. 6, the Cavs will host the Orlando Magic with a 7 p.m. ET tipoff. Then, on Dec. 8, Cleveland will head to South Beach to take on the Miami Heat on the road at 8 p.m.

Each contest will be treated as any regular-season game would. Meanwhile, the eight teams who advanced in the In-Season Tournament to the knockout stage will do battle on Monday and Tuesday to determine the final four that make it to Las Vegas for the tourney semifinals before crowing an inaugural champion on Dec. 9.

Nov 22, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) during the first half at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Cavs would have loved to be a part of the action, but did not meet the requirements to get there. Cleveland finished with a 3-1 record in Group A, boasting a plus-29 point differential. However, the Indiana Pacers clinched Group A and will meet the Boston Celtics in a clash that features the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds of the tournament from the East.

The New York Knicks ended up claiming the Eastern Conference's wild card spot with a higher margin of victory. 

Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said that it'll serve as a learning lesson.

"We had that Detroit game. We had a 16-point lead down the stretch, took our foot off the gas a little bit. That would've padded our differential," Bickerstaff said following the win over the Hawks. "These are things that we're learning through this new process. I am a very traditional NBA guy, but this is fun and it's awesome for the league."