Cavs playoffs: Cleveland Cavaliers to face Miami Heat or Atlanta Hawks in 1st round

[ASFN Admin]

The Cavaliers'playoff picture is becoming clearer.

In the first round, the Cavs will face the winner of Friday's NBA Play-In Tournament showdown between the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks. The Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls 109-90 on Wednesday night and advanced to visit the Hawks, who opened the Play-In Tournament Tuesday with a 120-95 loss at the Orlando Magic.

The top-seeded Cavs (64-18 in the regular season) will host whoever becomes the Eastern Conference's No. 8 seed — either the Heat (37-45) or Hawks (40-42) — in Game 1 at 7 p.m. Sunday at Rocket Arena.

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What were the Cleveland Cavs' records vs. Miami Heat/Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks in the 2024-25 NBA regular season?​

In the regular season, the Cavs went ...

• 2-1 against the Heat
• 1-2 against the Hawks

Note: All three Cavs-Hawks games occurred before the two teams executed a blockbuster trade on Feb. 6. The Cavs traded guard Caris LeVert, forward Georges Niang, three second-round draft choices and two pick swaps to the Hawks in exchange for wing De'Andre Hunter.

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What do Cavs play in NBA playoffs? Cleveland Cavaliers playoff schedule​

Here are the dates and times for the Cavs' first-round series:

• Game 1: Heat or Hawks at Cavs — 7 p.m. Sunday, April 20, TNT/truTV/Max
• Game 2: Heat or Hawks at Cavs — 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, NBA TV
• Game 3: Cavs at Heat or Hawks — 1 p.m. Saturday, April 26, TNT
• Game 4: Cavs at Heat or Hawks — TBD time Monday, April 28, TBD TV
• Game 5: Heat or Hawks at Cavs — TBD time Wednesday, April 30 (if necessary), TBD TV
• Game 6: Cavs at Heat or Hawks — TBD time Friday, May 2 (if necessary), TBD TV
• Game 7: Heat or Hawks at Cavs — TBD time Sunday, May 4 (if necessary), TBD TV

NBA playoff bracket: Eastern Conference​

• No. 1 seed Cavaliers vs. No. 8 seed (Miami Heat or Atlanta Hawks)
• No. 2 seed Boston Celtics vs. No. 7 seed Orlando Magic
• No. 3 seed New York Knicks vs. No. 6 seed Detroit Pistons
• No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers vs. No. 5 seed Milwaukee Bucks

Note: Should the Cavs advance past the first round, they would face the winner of Pacers versus Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at [email protected]. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cavs will face Heat or Hawks in first round of 2025 NBA playoffs

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