Jackson FlickingerSat, November 29, 2025 at 4:09 PM UTC·2 min readThe Cleveland Cavaliers will not be advancing out of the group stage portion of the NBA Cup for the third time in the tournament’s three-year existence. In the last two seasons, it was the Atlanta Hawks that eliminated them from advancing. They did so on Friday by defeating Cleveland 130-123.
Despite the loss, the Cavs did receive some good news. The league announced that the Cavaliers will be taking on the Washington Wizards (2-16) on the road on Friday, Dec. 12. Game time is at 7 PM. They will then host the Charlotte Hornets (5-14) on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 3:30 PM.
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Since the beginning of the NBA Cup, each schedule has only included 80 of the 82 games that need to be played each season. The other two games are dependent on which teams advance in the tournament. Since the Cavs aren’t advancing, they were scheduled to play two games against other Eastern Conference teams that were also eliminated from cup play. Fortunately for Cleveland, they have been scheduled against two of the worst teams in the league.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Cavaliers have won 13 straight games against the Wizards, which includes beating them 148-115 earlier this month. Cleveland’s last loss to Washington came on Dec. 30, 2021. There isn’t a much easier opponent the Cavs could’ve asked to have added to the schedule.
The Hornets are better than the Wizards, but not by much. Rookie Kon Kneupel has shown some promise at the start of the season, but they’re by no means a good team, as evidenced by their 5-14 record. The Cavs should be heavily favored in this game as well.
The Cavaliers have had a tough start to the season. Something is off with this team besides the numerous injuries they’ve had to deal with so far. We’ll see if getting two easier games added to the schedule will help get them back on track.
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