Cavaliers vs. Knicks Opening Odds for Game 1 of Eastern Conference Finals (Knicks Clearly Favored)

Entering the 2025-26 season, the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers were viewed as the clear top teams in the East.

And while the regular season didn’t play out that way, we have arrived at the Eastern Conference Finals and the No. 3 seeded Knicks and Jalen Brunson are set to host the No. 4-seeded Cavs and Donovan Mitchell.

Funny how that works!

New York stormed through the second round of the playoffs, sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers while the Cavs have a quick turnaround ahead of Game 1 after they beat the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 on Sunday night.

This is the second time that these teams have met in the playoffs in the last four seasons, though the Knicks look a lot different from that 2023 meeting. New York won that series (as the No. 5 seed in the East) in five games, beating Cleveland twice on its home floor (in Game 1 and Game 5) to advance.

However, the Knicks now have Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns on their team while the Cavs have swapped out Darius Garland for James Harden. Earlier this season, Cleveland beat the Knicks in the lone matchup between these teams that Harden appeared in. New York won two matchups (including one on Christmas Day) before that.

Oddsmakers have set the Knicks as favorites to win this series, and it makes sense since they have the best net rating (plus-20.0) of any team in the playoffs. However, Cleveland does have a ton of All-Star caliber talent that can compete with New York on a nightly basis.

When it comes to Game 1, the Knicks are favored at home, where they are 34-11 overall (including playoffs) and one of the best teams in the league against the spread.

Can Jalen Brunson and company cover to give the Knicks a 1-0 series lead?

Here’s a look at the opening odds and a quick preview for Tuesday’s series opener.

Cavaliers vs. Knicks Odds, Spread and Total

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Spread

Cavs +7.5 (-115)
Knicks -7.5 (-105)

Moneyline

Cavs: +215
Knicks: -265

Total

216.5 (Over -110/Under -110)

This is a very interesting opening line in Game 1, as the Knicks were favored by the same number in Game 1 against Philadelphia, but they were just 6.5-point favorites at home in Game 1 against Atlanta.

New York is 4-1 at home in the playoffs, while the Cavs’ first two road wins this postseason came in Games 5 and 7 in Detroit in the second round.

As a home favorite in the 2025-26 season, the Knicks have been pretty dominant, going 26-15 against the spread, and they were 30-10 straight up at home in the regular season.

Cavaliers vs. Knicks Game 1 Preview

The Knicks are favored in Game 1, but there is going to be the classic “Rest vs. Rust” discussion heading into this matchup. New York hasn’t played since Sunday, May 10, though that rest helped OG Anunoby (hamstring) logged multiple full practices ahead of Game 1 of this series.

Anunoby’s presence will be important for the Knicks, who have ratcheted things up on the defensive end over the second half of the season. New York is No. 2 in defensive rating, No. 2 in offensive rating and No. 1 in net rating this postseason, and it enters Game 1 on a seven-game winning streak.

Meanwhile, the Cavs have gone 8-6 in the playoffs, posting a net rating of plus-1.0.

Prior to Game 5 against Detroit, Cleveland had gone 0-5 on the road in the playoffs, but it is now 2-5 on the road and an impressive 6-1 at home. This is a tough turnaround for the Cavs after playing on Sunday night, but they did have some serious momentum in that game, scoring 125 points in a blowout win?

Does that carry over to Game 1?

The key for Cleveland may be Donovan Mitchell’s involvement as a passer, as he played by far his best game of the postseason on Sunday, dishing out eight assists (he’s averaging just 3.3 per game in the playoffs) to pace the Cavs. James Harden’s playoff struggles are well-documented, so Mitchell is going to need to be great night in and night out against a red-hot Knicks team.

On the defensive end, the Cavs may decide to put Max Strus or Dean Wade (Strus started Game 7 on Sunday) on Jalen Brunson to force the Knicks star to see a little more size each time down the court. However, the biggest matchup for Cleveland will be on the glass, where Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson have torched Cleveland in recent seasons.

Robinson completely swung the 2023 series between these teams by outplaying Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley on the boards.

Mobley and Allen both played well in Game 7 against Detroit, so the Cavs are hoping that’ll carry over into this matchup.

As for the Knicks, the health of Anunoby (21.4 points, 7.5 rebounds in the playoffs) is crucial. It did open up more touches for Mikal Bridges in Philadelphia, and he seems to have found his offense after a slow start to the Atlanta series.

The Knicks have won several blowouts on this playoff run, but one could argue that Cleveland is by far the best team the Knicks have faced so far in the 2026 postseason.

I lean with New York in Game 1 – it blew out Philly in Game 1 after the 76ers played a Game 7 – but this may not be a quick series if Mitchell starts finding a groove on the offensive end. He should see a lot of Anunoby, Josh Hart and Bridges in this series.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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