With all the Cleveland Cavaliers talk centred around injuries to the starters and how the role players are shouldering the responsibility, one player is quietly

NEW YORK – The Knicks started off the Mike Brown era with a win. It wasn’t always easy and the Cavaliers threatened, but the Knicks ultimately escaped with a 119-111 victory in a season-opening victory at Madison Square Garden Oct. 22.

New York spent all of Wednesday hounding Cleveland’s ballhandlers in the backcourt. The Knicks alternated who was at the point of attack. They threw different looks. The Knicks wanted to make their opponent work for what it wanted, to be on the front foot, as opposed to reacting.

Cleveland faces early adversity as injuries test the Cavaliers ahead of their season opener against the Knicks.

The Knicks and Cavaliers figure to jockey for home-court advantage throughout the season. New York struck first in teams' season opener.

The Cleveland Cavaliers face the New York Knicks in a regular season NBA game on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 (10/22/25) at Madison Square Garden.

Both the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers may be without multiple key players in Wednesday night's Eastern Conference showdown.

Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby each had a double-double and the host New York Knicks pulled away in the 4th quarter to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers