The New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers meet at Madison Square Garden for the Eastern Conference Finals. This is the second straight season the Knicks have made the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Cavaliers are here for the first time since 2017-18.
New York averaged 124.3 points per game against Philadelphia and shot 54.5% in the series, plus 44.8% from three. The Knicks are on fire and are the hottest team in the NBA with seven straight wins and six of them coming by double digits. The Knicks are 2-1 against the Cavaliers this season with eight and two-point wins.
Cleveland is coming off a seven-game series win over the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons. Cleveland is 2-5 on the road this postseason, but won the last two in Games 5 and 7 at Detroit. The Cavaliers have won four of the last five games and averages 112.8 points per game in that span. The midseason acquisition for James Harden has paid off. The last time Cleveland made an Eastern Conference Finals was the same year that Harden did with Houston.
Let’s take a closer look at tonight’s matchup and take into consideration lineups, injuries, and other factors affecting the line and total.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch Live: Cavaliers vs. Knicks
- Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2026
- Time: 8:10 PM EST
- Site: Madison Square Garden
- City: New York, NY
- Network/Streaming: ESPN
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Game Odds: Cavaliers vs. Knicks
The latest odds as of Tuesday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: New York Knicks (-250), Cleveland Cavaliers (+205)
- Spread: Knicks -6.5
- Total: 217.5 points
This game opened Knicks -6.5 with the Total set at 216.5.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
Expected Starting Lineups: Cavaliers vs. Knicks
Cleveland Cavaliers
- PG James Harden
- SG Donovan Mitchell
- SF Dean Wade
- PF Evan Mobley
- C Jarrett Allen
New York Knicks
- PG Jalen Brunson
- SG Josh Hart
- SF Mikal Bridges
- PF OG Anunoby (probable)
- C Karl-Anthony Towns
Injury Report: Knicks vs. Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
- None
New York Knicks
- OG Anunoby (hamstring strain) is listed as QUESTIONABLE for Game 1. Anunoby missed Games 3 and 4 vs the 76ers.
Important stats, trends and insights: Cavaliers vs. Knicks
- New York is 51-42 ATS and an NBA-best 30-15 ATS as a home favorite
- New York is 50-43 to the Under and 24-21 at home
- New York is 21-20 ATS as a home favorite
- New York is 24-21 to the Under at home and 16-15 to the Over as a home favorite
- Cleveland has the second worst ATS record at 39-56
- Cleveland is 10-7 ATS as a road underdog and 8-9 on the ML
- Cleveland is 27-21 to the Over on the road
- Cleveland is 9-8 as an away underdog
- Cleveland is 48-48 to the Under on the season
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Tuesday’s Cavaliers and Knicks’ game:
- Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Knicks’ Moneyline
- Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Knicks -6.5 ATS
- Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total OVER 217.5
Want even more NBA best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert NBA Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and over/under picks for every game on today’s calendar!
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NBA Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
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