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5 Cleveland Cavaliers Games To Watch This Season

By Glenn Moore

Oct 20, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) spins past Chicago Bulls forward Tony Snell (20) at Value City Arena. Cleveland won the game 107-98. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 20, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) spins past Chicago Bulls forward Tony Snell (20) at Value City Arena. Cleveland won the game 107-98. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports /
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The 2014-15 NBA season will feature plenty of key matchups for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but here are five games you should have circled on your calendar.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are favorites to win their first NBA championship this season, bringing much attention to the city and Northeast Ohio. 29 games will be on national television, which puts them up there with the Thunder and Bulls for most appearances on national broadcasts.

The unit will have a huge bullseye after adding LeBron James and Kevin Love to go along with Kyrie Irving. Every team in the NBA will have their sights on taking down the new ‘Big 3’ of the league.

The Cavs have twenty sets of back-to-back games, including seven home-road sets, seven road-home sets and six road-road sets. They also have two five-game homestands (Nov. 22 to Dec. 2 and Dec. 15 to Dec. 23).

While every game will be a must-watch contest when the Cavs are involved, there are a handful of games you should be circling on your calendar that involve some of the other top teams in the NBA.

Here are five games to watch this season if you are a Cavs fan:

1. Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks (Oct. 30)

The most-anticipated Cavaliers season-opener in the franchise’s history will be against the Knicks and the city of Cleveland will get their first taste of James, Love and Irving on the court in a game situation.

While the Knicks won’t be contenders for the Eastern Conference, all eyes will be on how the Cavs roster looks and plays.

Will the ovation for James be as loud as it was when he returned as a member of the Heat for the first time? The Q should be rocking as the anticipation for this game has been building for the last two months.

Oct 18, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) and power forward Chris Bosh (1) walk onto the court during the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center. The Heat won 111-108 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) and power forward Chris Bosh (1) walk onto the court during the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center. The Heat won 111-108 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Cavaliers at Miami Heat (Dec. 25)

It will be interesting to see the ovation James receives when he makes his first trip to Miami as a member of the Cavaliers following his stint with the Heat. Will fans boo James, who helped the Heat win two titles, or give him the proper applause he deserves?

Just because the Heat are without James does not mean the Heat are a bad team. They still have Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade and will be a team to not take lightly.

The Christmas Day matchup puts the game on a national stage and it marks the 11th time in franchise history that the Cavs will play on the holiday.

The Heat will look different without James in a Miami uniform, but the game will be interesting to watch.

3. Cavaliers at Oklahoma City Thunder (Dec. 11)

Could this be a preview of the NBA Finals? The first matchup between these two teams comes in the second month of the season and should be a good gauge on where both teams are at after one month of the NBA season.

Kevin Durant is no stranger to playing James on a national stage and the game will be played in Oklahoma City, which makes this a tough contest on the road early in the season.

While this game is not a must-win for either team, the game will test where the Cavs are at as a squad and there’s not a better opponent than the Thunder.

4. Cavaliers vs. San Antonio Spurs (Nov. 14)

The Spurs are NBA Champions until a new team is crowned, possibly next summer. No matter what other teams did in the offseason, the Spurs are still the team to beat.

San Antonio makes an early trip to Cleveland within the first few weeks of the season and James will love to top the team that beat him in the NBA Finals last season when he played for the Heat.

It’s a veteran squad and the Spurs are a year older, but that doesn’t mean they should be taken lightly. A win against the Spurs at home would be a good confidence booster for the Cavs.

5. Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls (Oct. 31)

The first two games of the Cavs’ season are on this list because of the importance of the contests. While the game against the Knicks is big because of the first game with the new-look roster, the second game of the season will set the tone of a possible season-long rivarly.

The Cavs travel out to Chicago to face the Bulls on Halloween night following their season opener against the Knicks. These two teams faced off in the preseason in Columbus, but the regular season is a different beast.

The Bulls have their own ‘Big 3’ with Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah. A huge question mark is if Rose can stay healthy, but if he can, the matchup between the Cavs and Bulls will be a season-long battle for the Eastern Conference.

While playing in his first stint with the Cavs, James had plenty of run-ins with the Bulls, including Noah. This matchup should be fun to watch all year and there’s no reason why these two teams shouldn’t be meeting in the Eastern Conference Finals.

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