Philadelphia 76ers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: October 22 Tipoff, ESPN, Injury Report and Preview

The Philadelphia 76ers host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, October 22, 2026, in an early-season Eastern Conference matchup at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. The official NBA schedule lists tipoff for 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC−04:00), which is 23:00 UTC on Thursday, October 22. ESPN has the national U.S. broadcast, and the NBA says ESPN games are also available through the ESPN App subject to the viewer’s eligible access.

Pregame update: The injury information below reflects the NBA’s official 6:45 p.m. ET report on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. That report now provides confirmed designations for this matchup, replacing the earlier article’s unconfirmed injury discussion. Official starters for Cleveland–Philadelphia had not yet been posted at the time of this update and should not be treated as confirmed until the league or teams publish them.

76ers vs. Cavaliers: Game time, arena and TV information

The official NBA game page identifies Xfinity Mobile Arena as the venue and lists the game for 7:00 p.m. ET. The league’s 2026–27 schedule by date also shows Cleveland at Philadelphia at 7:00 p.m. local/ET on ESPN. Philadelphia is still observing daylight saving time on October 22, so the correct local designation is EDT, not EST.

How to watch Cleveland at Philadelphia

The NBA’s official 2026–27 schedule release places Cavaliers–76ers in ESPN’s Thursday opening-week doubleheader. The league specifically lists the Philadelphia game at 7:00 p.m. ET, followed by Denver at Oklahoma City at 9:30 p.m. ET. The same release says ESPN App carries ABC/ESPN national games.

In the United States, viewers should check the ESPN channel or ESPN App access included with their television or streaming service. International rights vary by country, so viewers outside the United States should use the NBA’s official “How to Watch” tools or their local rights holder rather than assume ESPN is available in their market. For live scoring, play-by-play and official game information, the NBA matchup page is the most direct league source.

Latest official injury report for Cavaliers vs. 76ers

The NBA’s 2026–27 injury-report page publishes continually updated reports. In the 6:45 p.m. ET report on October 21, the league listed the following players for this game:

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Jarrett Allen — Questionable: right patellar tendinopathy.
• Khalifa Diop — Out: left knee injury management.
• Nae’Qwan Tomlin — Out: low back stress reaction.

Cleveland separately announced on October 20 that Tomlin had been diagnosed with a lower-back stress reaction and would be re-evaluated in approximately three to four weeks. That team update is consistent with the official out designation in the NBA report. Allen’s status is the most important late decision for Cleveland’s frontcourt because “questionable” is not the same as ruled out or cleared.

Philadelphia 76ers

• Dominick Barlow — Out: low back stress reaction.
• Tacko Fall — Out: left quadriceps strain.
• Ariel Hukporti — Out: right Achilles tendon rupture/tear.
• Dean Wade — Questionable: left ankle sprain.

These are official pregame designations, not predictions. The NBA requires another game-day injury submission for most games, and reports can continue to change as medical evaluations and warmups progress. The 6:45 p.m. ET report did not show a suspension designation for this matchup. Readers should recheck the NBA injury-report page on October 22 before relying on any status as final.

Are the starting lineups confirmed?

No official starting fives for the October 22 game had been posted at the time of this update. Philadelphia’s opening-night combinations and Cleveland’s preseason rotations can provide context, but they do not make a projected lineup official. A late injury decision—especially Allen for Cleveland or Wade for Philadelphia—can affect rotations and matchups even if neither player is ultimately announced as a starter.

The safest approach is to check the NBA starting-lineups page and the game page closer to tipoff. Team announcements after warmups can supersede earlier projections.

Philadelphia arrives 1–0 after beating the defending champions

The biggest contextual change since the earlier preview is that Philadelphia has now played its season opener. The 76ers beat the defending champion New York Knicks 106–100 at Madison Square Garden on October 20. According to the official NBA recap, Tyrese Maxey scored a game-high 28 points, Jaylen Brown had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, LeBron James recorded 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Joel Embiid finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Philadelphia trailed by 10 in the first half but took control with an 11–0 run to close the third quarter. That result makes the Cleveland game the 76ers’ home opener and LeBron James’ first regular-season home game for Philadelphia, a storyline the NBA highlighted when it released the national schedule.

Cleveland opens its regular season in Philadelphia

Cleveland, by contrast, is scheduled to make its 2026–27 regular-season debut on October 22. The Cavaliers’ next game is their home opener against Brooklyn on Saturday, October 24. That difference in timing means Philadelphia comes in with one regular-season game of information on its new lineup, while Cleveland’s first meaningful-game rotations are still to be established.

Donovan Mitchell remains the most obvious Cleveland perimeter focal point, while the status of Allen could materially change the interior matchup. If Allen is limited or unavailable, Cleveland’s rebounding and rim protection responsibilities may shift. If he is cleared, his presence alongside Evan Mobley gives the Cavaliers a stronger interior base against a Philadelphia team featuring Embiid and a large, experienced wing group.

Recent head-to-head context

Cleveland controlled the regular-season series in 2025–26, winning all four meetings shown on the current NBA matchup page: 132–121 on November 5, 133–107 on January 14, 117–115 on January 16 and 115–101 on March 9. Those results are useful background, but they are not a direct forecast for October 22 because Philadelphia’s roster has changed substantially with James and Brown now in the rotation.

The opening-night win over New York also showed that Philadelphia can distribute creation across several players. Maxey led the scoring, while James, Brown and Embiid all contributed as passers and rebounders. Against Cleveland, the key questions are whether the 76ers can reproduce that balance, whether the Cavaliers can pressure the ball without opening driving lanes, and how the frontcourt availability report changes the rebounding battle.

Three things to check before the 7:00 p.m. EDT tipoff

1. Jarrett Allen’s final designation: he was officially questionable with right patellar tendinopathy in the NBA’s 6:45 p.m. ET report on October 21.
2. Dean Wade and the updated Philadelphia report: Wade was questionable with a left ankle sprain, while Barlow, Fall and Hukporti were already ruled out.
3. Confirmed starters: neither team’s October 22 starting five was official when this update was prepared, so check league or team announcements closer to the opening tip.

The core fixture details remain unchanged and are confirmed by the NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers at Philadelphia 76ers, Thursday, October 22, 2026, at Xfinity Mobile Arena; 7:00 p.m. EDT (UTC−04:00), corresponding to 23:00 UTC; national U.S. coverage on ESPN with ESPN App availability subject to eligible access. The most important remaining pregame variables are the game-day injury updates and the official starting lineups.