It was a weird, winding road to get here. But the two preseason betting favorites to make the NBA Finals out of the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks, will meet in the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals.
Cleveland survived two Game 7s to beat the Toronto Raptors and the Detroit Pistons in the first two rounds. New York rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the first round and has won seven straight, defeating the Atlanta Hawks in six games and sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers to make the conference finals.
The Knicks won the regular-season series 2-1, but the Cavaliers covered the spread twice. NYK’s two wins came before the Cavs traded for All-Star PG and Cleveland crushed New York 109-94 in February, when both teams were healthy.
After watching Game 1 of the 2026 Western Conference Finals, this might be a one-year title window for New York and Cleveland. Victor Wembanyama looked like the GOAT and the Oklahoma City Thunder have the best roster in the NBA.
Who will capitalize on their opportunity? Well, that’s what we are here to figure out. Below are the series odds, my analysis and best bet for Cavaliers-Knicks in the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals.
Simply put, the Cavs don’t have anyone who can guard NYK All-Star PG Jalen Brunson and that’s going to swing this series toward New York. Granted, Brunson played poorly against the Cavaliers this season: He averaged 25.7 points on 33.9% shooting in three meetings.
Yet, NYK has the highest offensive efficiency through the first two rounds of the 2026 NBA Playoffs and Cleveland can’t focus solely on Brunson. The Cavaliers need All-Star guards James Harden and Donovan Mitchell to be on the floor, but both are terrible defenders.
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New York can hide Brunson on Cavaliers forward Max Strus, who isn’t good enough to exploit Brunson’s bad defense. The Cavs can’t do that with Harden and Mitchell. The Knicks will put them in defensive actions, which takes away from their energy on offense.
Also, NYK can throw forwards Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby and backup guard Miles McBride on The Beard and Spida. With all due respect to the 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Cavaliers PF Evan Mobley, Anunoby is the best defender in this series.
Speaking of which, Cleveland’s bigs were the reason it ultimately beat Detroit in the last round. However, the Knicks have a better frontcourt, featuring six-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and the second-best defensive big in the NBA, behind Wemby, Mitchell Robinson.
Essentially, the Cavs need to shoot the lights out and get a favorable whistle. While New York should win the “battle for possessions,” which is more predictive and the Knicks have better rebounding and turnover rates on both ends of the floor.
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