De’Andre Hunter will miss the season opener against the Knicks with a knee injury
Wednesday night, The Cleveland Cavaliers will hit the road to meet the New York Knicks in the first game of the 2025-26 NBA season for both teams. Many consider the Cavaliers and Knicks to be the clear favorites in the Eastern Conference this season given the current state of the other potential teams in the East.
There was some question leading up to this matchup about the status of the Cavs forward De’Andre Hunterwho the team acquired from the Atlanta Hawks at the trade deadline last season.
Just before tip-off on Wednesday, fans got their answer.
“…starting small forward De’Andre Hunter is OUT for the season opener against the Knicks,” NBA insider Chris Fedor of cleveland.com reported on X, formerly Twitter.
Hunter is now one of multiple key Cavs contributors who will miss the game against the Knicks, including point guard Darius Garland and wing Max Struss, who are expected to miss the first part of the season with their injuries.
Meanwhile, the Knicks will be without forward Josh Hart and center Mitchell Robinson for this matchup, with big man Karl-Anthony Towns’ status also in doubt ahead of this contest.
That being the case, Wednesday’s final score may not provide much insight into who is actually the more legitimate threat to win the East between the Cavs and Knicks. However, both teams would obviously like to start the season on the right foot and send an early message as the season progresses.
Either way, the Cavs and Knicks are scheduled to tip things off at 7:00 PM ET from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN following the first pregame “Inside the NBA” show in the new format.
2025-10-22 22:21:00
