Cavaliers to face Raptors in first-round NBA playoff series

The Cavaliers drew a first-round matchup with the Toronto Raptors, a series that opens a sharp test for Cleveland after three regular-season losses to Toronto and a finish that locked the Cavs into the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, with the league’s playoff calendar setting the first round to begin April 18 after the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament runs April 14-17. One series listing put the opener at 1 p.m. ET on ABC in the United States and TSN or Sportsnet in Canada, while Cleveland’s tipoff time remained to be finalized.

Toronto landed the No. 5 seed by climbing into fifth on the final day of the regular season. That finish set up an East first-round meeting between two teams that had already seen each other three times in the 2025-26 season, with the Raptors winning each game before Cleveland fortified its roster at the trade deadline.

The numbers point to an offense-heavy series. Cleveland finished the regular season averaging 119.5 points per game, while Toronto averaged 114.6. The Cavaliers also enter with Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley at the front of the matchup, a core expected to carry the burden as Cleveland tries to advance beyond last season’s East semifinals exit.

Toronto’s path is built around creating an opening against a higher seed that has changed since those earlier meetings. Immanuel Quickley gives the Raptors another guard who can pressure a defense and push pace, and the matchup offers Toronto a chance to lean on its late surge after rising to fifth in the East on the season’s final day.

Cleveland’s path is more demanding. The Cavs finished locked at No. 4, knew they were likely to see either Atlanta or Toronto before the bracket was set, and now get a Raptors team that already proved troublesome before Cleveland’s midseason upgrades. The series will turn quickly from seeding to execution, with the opener in Cleveland setting the tone for what could become one of the more revealing first-round pairings in the conference.