The NBA playoffs Top 6 are set - and in the East's 4-5 matchup, the Cleveland Cavaliers will face the New York Knicks, beginning Saturday night in Cleveland.
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoff series will tip off at 6 p.m. and be televised by ESPN.
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Three years removed from being excluded from the league’s pandemic bubble to complete the 2020-2021 season and coming off two losses in the Play-In tournament last year, the Cavs finished the regular season 51-31 and secured the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
“I'm happy for these guys,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “What makes us go as coaches is you want to see young guys get better. You want to see a team come together, and that's where we get our joy from is watching the team come together. Don't often, and I don't take this for granted, you don't often get to see your product finished as a coach in our position. Typically you go through something and then somebody else is reaping the benefits of it.
“So we are extremely fortunate to be a part of this group and that the group came together the way that it did. So it’s not lost on me, and again, I am appreciative for these guys, for this organization to be in the position that we're in now.”
The Knicks, who won three of the four meetings between the two teams this season, went 47-35 to earn the fifth seed.