... Dennis Schroder reveals the importance of the Cavaliers securing home-court advantage originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. The Cleveland Cavaliers are not only in the 2026 Playoffs but also have home-court advantage in their first-round matchup. While they can still reach the third seed held by the New York Knicks, they are assured that they will not drop to the fifth seed. It has been a tough season for the Cavs, especially with their slow start. Now that they have secured at least the fourth seed, they will have an advantage against their first-round matchup, which will be the fifth or sixth seed. Before the 2025-26 season, most NBA experts saw the Cavaliers as the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. Considering they won 60+ games in the 2024-25 regular season, this was a fair argument to make. Unfortunately, it did not go to plan because the Cavs struggled with injuries. It got to a point that they were shuffling starting lineups almost every game, which stabilized in the second half of the season. MORE: The Cavaliers are still trying to find their rhythm for the Playoffs The Cavaliers' front office recognized they needed some changes within the roster, so they made trades. They acquired Keon Ellis, Dennis Schroder, and James Harden. The team also parted ways with Darius Garland, who was a long-time Cavaliers starter. That helped the team turn the season around because all those players were massive contributors to their promising second half of the season. "Especially with Cavs fans, I think it’s very important that we have the home crowd advantage. It’s going to help us in the first round. We just got to focus, finishing those games, and be ready," Schroder said after the Cavs' win on Monday. As the Cavaliers progress into the Playoffs, they will take what they can get in terms of advantages. In the postseason, that could be valuable for their success in their attempt to reach the NBA Finals. Cleveland set to be one of the candidates to sign LeBron James in the 2026 offseason Max Strus reflects on his best game since returning to the Cavaliers rotation Donovan Mitchell reveals that his injured eye looked worse than it felt The Cavaliers proved how dangerous they can be in the fourth quarter The Bucks wanted Mobley in an Antetokounmpo trade
