Cavaliers Will Immediately Be Tested In Regular Season

Everyone is excited for the NBA to be back and Opening Night for the Cleveland Cavaliers is right around the corner!

However, there isn't going to be a lot of time for the Cavs to ease into the season. Cleveland is going to be tested immediately because of its schedule and a few lingering injuries.

First Five Games

The Cavs have a number of challenging contests to open up the season. These are their opponents for the first five games of the year:

Brooklyn Nets
Oklahoma City Thunder
Indiana Pacers
New York Knicks
New York Knicks

No, that isn't a typo. Cleveland will play New York twice (one home and one away) in the first week of the season. This matchup will be a big test for the Cavs considering the Knicks are running back a similar roster to when they eliminated Cleveland from the playoffs back in April.

Have the Cavaliers filled the weaknesses that New York exposed?

The Nets, Thunder, and Pacers aren't teams to sleep on either. Brooklyn has a young, but experienced roster centered around Mikal Bridges who could take another massive step this year. It will also be interesting to see how Cleveland matches up with the Thunder considering they'll have seven-foot sensation Chet Holmgren healthy.

Full Strength?

There's been a lot to like about what the Cavs have done in preseason in terms of depth and scheme. However, we still haven't seen what the roster will look like fully healthy.

Jarrett Allen has yet to touch the floor in a game this season because of an ankle injury. He's part of Cleveland's core four, so hopefully it won't take too long for him to get acclimated to J.B. Bickerstaff's dynamic new offense.

Darius Garland was also ruled out of Cleveland's final preseason game because of a couple "minor injuries." At this time, the team isn't expected to keep DG out long-term.

These first few games could be difficult for the Cavs if they get off to a slow start. However, it's important that we don't overreact to the outcome. A coach doesn't need to be fired and a roster doesn't need to torn a part because of one week of basketball.