The Cleveland Cavaliers are still awaiting to see who their first-round playoff opponent will be, but one team is starting to stand out.
As of Monday evening, ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies, the Wine and Gold have only four more regular-season games left.
They’ve already clinched a spot in the NBA Playoffs, but who the Cavaliers will end up facing is still up in the air. That said, Cleveland’s potential first-round opponent is becoming more and more likely as the regular season winds down.
If the postseason started on Monday, the Cavaliers would end the year as the Eastern Conference’s No. 4 seed. In that case, they’d end up facing the No. 5-seeded Atlanta Hawks.
Cleveland is currently 4.0 games ahead of the Hawks in the East, so even if they do end up catching the Cavs over the next week, the two teams would still match up; it would just change who has home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series.
Nov 2, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots over the defense of Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the second half at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn ImagesThere is still a chance that the Philadelphia 76ers, who are currently the No. 6 seed in the East, could catch the Hawks. Atlanta is only two games ahead of Philly, but the Hawks are playing much better over their last 10 games.
The Cavaliers currently have one win and one loss against the Hawks on the season.
In those games, Cleveland’s offense scored 120 points per game, while shooting 43 percent from the floor and 38 percent from behind the arc. On the defensive end, Cleveland gave up 119.5 points per game.
However, both of these games were played earlier in the season, and before the Cavaliers made significant roster changes ahead of the trade deadline.
Clearly, these two teams have played each other tight during the season, but that’s not the only reason a potential first-round matchup would be interesting.
If the Hawks and Cavs do end up facing each other in the postseason, it would make for a fascinating end of the regular season.
Why?
Because after Cleveland’s matchup with Memphis, they’ll take on the Hawks in consecutive games as a part of a home-and-away series on Wednesday and Friday.
Each team will likely be hesitant to show too many plays, sets, or offense in either of these games, given how the playoff bracket is shaking out.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see what happens in these two games and across the rest of the NBA, to see whether the Cavs and Hawks really do match up in the playoffs.
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