Cleveland Cavaliers have work to do after latest NBA power rankings

The Cleveland Cavaliers are entering the 2025-26 season with a lot of high hopes ahead of their first game against the New York Knicks.

The Cavs and Knicks are expected to be the top two teams in the Eastern Conference this season, which is something reflected in CBS Sports writer Colin Ward-Henninger's power rankings. The Cavs are slotted in at No. 4 in the final ranking before the season opener.

"Sure they lost Ty Jerome, and Darius Garland is injured to start the year, but there's not much reason to think the Cavs won't be able to at least come close to replicating their magical 64-win run from last season," Ward-Henninger wrote.

"Donovan Mitchell is as reliable as they come, and Evan Mobley still has another level to hit offensively. Mostly, you have to trust Kenny Atkinson's system to make creative use of whichever players he has available. And when everyone's healthy -- look out."

Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley shoots in the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons. | David Richard-Imagn Images

Cavaliers in top 5 in NBA power rankings

The only teams ranked higher than the Cavs are the Denver Nuggets, the aforementioned Knicks and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who picked up a big double-overtime victory against the Houston Rockets (No. 6 in the power rankings) in their season opener.

The team the Cavs will be in direct competition with throughout the entire season is the Knicks, and the season opener being at Madison Square Garden gives Cleveland a chance to strike first against one of its biggest rivals for the year. Ward-Henninger explained why the Knicks will be tough to beat this season.

"Armed with a new, movement-heavy offense from Mike Brown, the Knicks should be in the hunt for the East's top seed throughout the season. By empowering Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby -- among others -- the pressure should be at least somewhat lifted off of Jalen Brunson's shoulders. If they can stay around average defensively, New York should win a lot of games," Ward-Henninger wrote.

The season opener against the Knicks could be a preview of May's Eastern Conference Finals, so the Cavs should do their best to try and pick up a win to start the year off on the right foot, because a tiebreaker could come into play later down the line.

Tipoff between the Cavs and Knicks is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Fans can watch the game on ESPN or stream it on the ESPN app.