Potential Playoff Matchups For Cavaliers

There are still several teams in play to be matched up with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

The NBA regular season is rapidly coming to a close. As it stands on Saturday evening, the Cleveland Cavaliers have just 12 games before the postseason and hold the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Let’s take an early look at the possible postseason matchups the Cavs could get in April. 

Behind Cleveland in the East are the New York Knicks (4th seed), Orlando Magic (5th seed), and Indiana Pacers (6th seed). If the season ended on Saturday, the Cavaliers would be matched up with the Pacers in round one with Cleveland holding home-court advantage in the series. 

What about the rest of the East? Where else could the Cavs end up finishing in the Conference? There are still a lot of possibilities that could play out over the next three weeks and some of those may be out of the wine and gold’s control.

Mar 18, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) passes the

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics hold a firm grasp on the one seed in the East with a 57–14 record. Right behind them are the Milwaukee Bucks who have a 45-25 record. 

Cleveland sits just 2.0 games behind the Bucks so the second seed isn’t out of the realm of possibility for the Cavaliers. There’s a lot that would have to go right for the wine and gold for this to happen, but it’s not impossible for them to still jump in the standings. However, the opposite is also in the cards. There’s still a scenario where the Cavs aren’t able to overcome their lengthy list of injuries and they slide down in the East and lose home-court advantage. 

It certainly isn’t too early to start exploring potential playoff matchups for the Cavs. However, their number one priority may be out of their control which is making it to the postseason with their entire roster available.