Thunder–Cavaliers Matchups Highlightedโ as Potential NBA Finals Preview in 2025-26 Schedule
NEW YORK – The NBA โhas slated โtwo regular season matchups โคbetween the Oklahoma City thunder adn the Cleveland โฃCavaliers for national television broadcastโค in the 2025-26 season, signaling the league’s belief in the potential of these teams as championship contenders. The declaration comes โฃas the full 2025-26 regular season schedule was recently released.
Bothโข the Thunder andโฃ Cavaliers enjoyed exceptional 2023-24 seasons, finishing with the best records in their respective conferences.Oklahoma City led the leagueโ with aโ historic 68-14 record, securing the top seed โin the Western Conference andโ ultimately winning the 2025 NBA Finals. Cleveland finished with a 64-18โ record,โฃ earning the Eastern Conference’sโ first seed, but were eliminatedโ in the second round ofโ the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers in five games.
The NBA is bettingโ on continued success for both franchises. The Thunder have โlocked up keyโ players Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and chet Holmgren with contract extensions, โขaimingโ for a โrepeat โฃchampionship run. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, return their โฃcore of Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, who both had career seasons last year, alongside Darius Garland andโข Jarrett Allen.
Theโค first nationally televised matchup will take place on Monday, January 19, as the โขthunder travel to Cleveland. The afternoon game will be broadcast onโค NBC โandโฃ Peacock as part of the NBA’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day schedule.
A month later, on Sunday, February 22, โขthe Cavaliers will visit Oklahoma City for โan afternoon game on ABC, part of the NBA’s weekly sunday primetimeโ lineup following โขthe Super Bowl.Despite being considered small-market teams,the Thunder and Cavaliers’ dominant performances last season areโฃ expected to draw meaningful viewership,offering fans a potential preview of the 2026 NBA finals.