Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv: Start time, TV schedule and how to watch online

Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt spent much of his time with Maccabi Tel Aviv by winning. It's a big reason why the Cavaliers eventually settled on him as their next coach, and so it's fitting that a new era in Cleveland begins Sunday night against the Israeli team that surprised under Blatt's leadership over the past few seasons.

But the 2014 Euroleague champion that upset a loaded Real Madrid team won't be favored against a tuned up Cavs roster that added LeBron James and Kevin Love this summer. James has been limited in practices with a creaky back, but it's been labeled as precautionary. Real game action will probably be viewed as a high-priority opportunity to get James court time with his new teammates, especially since Maccabi Tel Aviv might know a thing or two about what Blatt will be running.

Maccabi Tel Aviv has a number of familiar names on the roster. Gonzaga product Jeremy Pargo, former Florida big man Alex Tyus, former Illinois forward Brian Randle, and the one-time Virginia duo of Sylven Landesberg and Devin Smith lead the list of American college players on the roster. Greek center Sofoklis Schortsanitis might be a name familiar to American fans -- the man tagged with the nickname "Baby Shaq" never ended up in the NBA.

For the Cavs' purposes, the preseason opener is the first step in the process of developing cohesion. It likely won't feature the core of Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, James and Love for extensive minutes, but it will begin to hint at how Blatt's motion offense works and how his rotations might end up functioning.