The New York Knicks host the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day, with a noon ET tip on ABC/ESPN.
The Knicks are 20-9 and sitting second in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers are 17-14 and sitting in seventh place, so this is a big one for East positioning, even this early.
These teams already played once this season, and the Knicks took it 119-111 back on October 22, which sets up the perfect “response game” angle for the Cavaliers.
The headliners are exactly what you’d expect for a Christmas showcase. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 30.6 points per game while shooting 50.0% from the field. Jalen Brunson is right there at 29.1 points per game on 48.2% shooting, and he’s the guy who decides whether this turns into a Knicks party or a stressful grind.
Injury Report
Knicks
Miles McBride: Out (left ankle sprain)
Landry Shamet: Out (right shoulder sprain)
Guerschon Yabusele: Questionable (illness)
Cavaliers
Chris Livingston: Out (G League, two-way)
Evan Mobley: Questionable (left calf strain)
Larry Nance Jr.: Out (right calf strain)
Max Strus: Out (left foot surgery, Jones fracture)
Luke Travers: Out (G League, two-way)
Why The Knicks Have The Advantage
Madison Square Garden has been a real weapon for the Knicks this season. They’re 14-2 at home, and that matters in a holiday game where energy swings can get weird fast.
The bigger edge is defense. The Knicks are allowing 112.9 points per game, and they’ve played like a team that can survive cold stretches because they keep opponents from living at the rim all night. That’s the exact formula you want against a Cavaliers team that can score in bunches when the ball starts popping.
What I like most about the Knicks is how “stable” their style is. They aren’t relying on randomness. They’re at 26.9 assists per game and they don’t need to win with chaos. If this turns into a half-court chess match, the Knicks can stay organized, keep getting decent shots, and trust their defense to do the rest.
The injury angle also tilts their way. If Evan Mobley can’t go, the Cavaliers lose a lot of their best versatility on both ends. That’s not just “one guy out.” That’s a lineup puzzle changing, especially against a Knicks team that loves forcing you into tough matchups possession after possession.
Why The Cavaliers Have The Advantage
The Cavaliers’ case starts with offense and explosiveness. They’re scoring 120.0 points per game, basically neck-and-neck with the Knicks as a raw scoring team, but they do it while playing with more downhill pop and more transition juice when they get stops.
They also block shots at a higher clip, 5.1 blocks per game compared to 4.3 for the Knicks, and that can swing a game that’s going to feature a lot of paint pressure on both sides. In a holiday game where whistles can be inconsistent, rim protection becomes a cheat code.
The other thing I’m watching is form. The Cavaliers have won two straight and just hung 141 points in their last game on the Pelicans, which tells you the offense is in rhythm right now. If they start hot, the whole vibe flips, because the Knicks don’t want to play from behind in a game where every possession will be a fight.
And this is the simplest angle: they already lost to the Knicks once this season. Teams remember that. You don’t need a revenge speech for grown men, but you do get that extra edge where rotations tighten and the focus ramps up.
Knicks vs. Cavaliers Prediction
I’m taking the Knicks.
Home-court has been too strong to ignore, and I trust their defense more in a noon Christmas game where legs can be a little heavy and the margin for sloppy possessions gets thin.
Prediction: Knicks 121, Cavaliers 114
