Overview
- Game 1 tips Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden on ESPN, with sportsbooks listing New York as the series and Game 1 favorite.
- New York enters after nine days off following a four-game sweep of Philadelphia, raising rest-versus-rust questions about their rhythm.
- Sportico data cited by multiple outlets shows teams with at least five extra rest days are 42-23 in Game 1s and 48-17 in those series since 1984.
- OG Anunoby returned to full practice and was listed as probable for the opener, with final clearance planned after pregame warmups.
- Cleveland arrives following Sunday’s 125-94 Game 7 win in Detroit and reaches its first East finals without LeBron James since 1992, led by Donovan Mitchell alongside James Harden.