{"id":154885,"date":"2025-08-15T01:27:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T05:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=154885"},"modified":"2025-08-15T01:27:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T05:27:45","slug":"schedule-4-key-games-every-knicks-fan-should-care-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/15\/schedule-4-key-games-every-knicks-fan-should-care-about\/","title":{"rendered":"Schedule: 4 Key Games Every Knicks Fan Should Care About"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NEW YORK<\/strong> \u2013 The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/knicks\/\" target=\"_self\">New York Knicks<\/a> have dropped their 2025-26 schedule, and with it, the countdown to another Eastern Conference push begins. This summer was anything but quiet. Mike Brown replaces Tom Thibodeau on the sidelines, while <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/clarkjo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Clarkson<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/yabusgu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Guerschon Yabusele<\/a> arrive to fix a bench that ranked dead last in scoring. The mission is clear: compete for a title, and do it now. These\u00a0key games on the Knicks schedule doesn\u2019t just list dates. It sketches rivalries, tests, and turning points. Here are the four matchups every Knicks fan should circle \u2014 plus a few notes for those keeping an eye on the bigger picture.<\/p>\n<h2>Schedule: 4 Key Games Every Knicks Fan Should Care About<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Opening Night vs. Cleveland Cavaliers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The first game is a gauntlet. The Knicks open at Madison Square Garden against a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/cavaliers\/\" target=\"_self\">Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> team that won 64 games last season. The Cavs, led by <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Mitchell<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mobleev01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Mobley<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garlada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darius Garland<\/a>, swept all four regular-season meetings with New York.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">lock in the dates, knicks fam \ud83d\uddd3\ufe0f\u270d\ufe0f<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uyKdrIzqVA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/uyKdrIzqVA<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/k468wGqqJg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/k468wGqqJg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nyknicks\/status\/1956075863289815166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Still, it was the Knicks who went further in the postseason, reaching their first conference finals in 25 years before falling to Indiana. Opening night will show whether Brown\u2019s Knicks can break the Cavs\u2019 hold \u2014 and make an early statement.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Return to Indiana \u2014 December 12<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_141867\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-141867\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-141867\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26249245_168415519_lowres-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"Tyrese Haliburton will be missing when the Knicks face the Pacers in another key game on their schedule \" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26249245_168415519_lowres-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26249245_168415519_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26249245_168415519_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26249245_168415519_lowres-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26249245_168415519_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26249245_168415519_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26249245_168415519_lowres.jpg 1744w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-141867\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">May 21, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) celebrates with teammates after tying the game in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime against the New York Knicks during game one of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Gainbridge Fieldhouse hasn\u2019t seen the Knicks since the night everything changed. Game 6 of last year\u2019s conference finals ended their run and Thibodeau\u2019s tenure. This time, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/pacers\/\" target=\"_self\">Pacers<\/a> won\u2019t have <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/halibty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Haliburton<\/a>, who tore his Achilles in the NBA Finals, or <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/turnemy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myles Turner,<\/a> who left for Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t expect the rivalry to cool. Indiana\u2019s roster remains deep, and Brown\u2019s Knicks will need more than revenge to win here.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Christmas Day vs. Cleveland Cavaliers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Only one Eastern Conference matchup made the NBA\u2019s holiday slate, and this is it. The Knicks host the Cavaliers on December 25, a showcase game in the heart of the season.<\/p>\n<p>By then, playoff races will be taking shape, and the Cavs may once again be the biggest obstacle in New York\u2019s path. If the Knicks want to prove they\u2019ve closed the gap, this key game \u2014 a centerpiece of theKnicks schedule \u2014 is the perfect platform.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>January 4 at Sacramento Kings \u2014 Mike Brown\u2019s Return<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Mike Brown heads back to Sacramento for the first time since being fired early last season. He revived the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/kings\/\" target=\"_self\">Kings<\/a> in 2022, but the front office decided his time was up. The night will also mark a reunion with Scott Perry, Sacramento\u2019s new general manager and a former Knicks executive.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just a coaching homecoming. This road trip comes in the middle of a demanding January stretch, and wins here could build momentum before the brutal late-season schedule kicks in.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Other Notes on the Schedule<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Knicks will appear in 34 national TV games, tied for the league lead. They open with a home-heavy slate: nine of the first 12 at MSG, with matchups against Brooklyn, Chicago, Charlotte, Toronto, Utah, and Washington before December 6.<\/p>\n<p>But the balance tips sharply in February. Starting on the 22nd in Chicago, they\u2019ll play 14 of 20 on the road, including visits to Cleveland, Milwaukee, Denver, both Los Angeles teams, Oklahoma City, and Houston.<\/p>\n<p>With only 12 back-to-back sets \u2014 fewer than the league average for last season \u2014 the Knicks have the rest advantage they need. But if they want that rest to matter in April, the Knicks will need to seize the key games on their schedule from day one.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><label>Credit:<\/label>\u00a9 David Richard-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK \u2013 The New York Knicks have dropped their 2025-26 schedule, and with it, the countdown to another Eastern Conference push begins. This summer was anything but quiet. Mike Brown replaces Tom Thibodeau on the sidelines, while Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele arrive to fix a bench that ranked dead last in scoring. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":152223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,12,3],"tags":[50244,4674,5009],"class_list":["post-154885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-knicks","category-news","tag-2025-26-nba-season","tag-nba-schedule","tag-schedule-release"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154885"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154886,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154885\/revisions\/154886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}