CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In the last two years the Cleveland Cavaliers have tipped off the regular season at home, in front of a national television audience.

This is a different year. The Cavs won't even start their season in the United States.

The 2018-19 campaign opens with a pair of road games for the reigning Eastern Conference champions, with the first coming against the new-look Toronto Raptors on Oct. 17 before traveling to Minnesota for Game 2 on Oct. 19.

The LeBron James-less Cavaliers will play their home opener at renovated Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday, Oct. 21 against the Atlanta Hawks at 6 p.m.

Click here for the full schedule.

Earlier this week, the NBA announced its national TV games for Opening Week, Christmas Day, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Cavs, a staple of the league's marquee slate for the past four years, were notably left off the national TV schedule for those dates.

Instead of a Finals rematch on Christmas Day against the Warriors -- a tradition the last three years -- Cleveland will get the day off before traveling to Memphis for a Dec. 26 game. On MLK Day, the Cavs will play a special matinee game against the Chicago Bulls at 1 p.m. -- a few hours before the start of the league's nationally-televised tripleheader.

No James. No national recognition.

After appearing on national TV for a whopping 39 games last season, the Cavaliers don't have a game scheduled for TNT. They will be on ESPN just twice. They are slated to be on NBA TV five times.

The first major national broadcast is, of course, James' return to Cleveland on Nov. 21. That hyped game against the Lakers, their only visit to The Q, will tip at 8 p.m on ESPN. The other contest against James' Lakers will be Jan. 13 -- a game that will be carried on NBA TV. The only other matchup slated for ESPN comes on Wednesday, Feb. 13 vs. Brooklyn -- the final game before the All-Star break. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Other notables on the schedule:

*The two matchups against the Warriors don't nearly have as much appeal with James now in Los Angeles.

Moved away from the marquee dates, the Cavs-Warriors Finals rematch will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at The Q. The Cavs' lone trip to Oakland will be the final road game of the season, one that comes at the end of a five-game Western Conference road trip. That will be Friday, April 5 at 10:30 p.m.

*The NBA has gone to great lengths to space out the schedule. There are no stretches with four games in five nights. Back-to-backs have been cut down as well. The average is 13.3 per team this season, down from 19.3 in the 2014-15 season and 14.4 last season. The Cavs will play 14 sets of back-to-backs, including four home-road sets, three home-home sets and five road-road sets.

*The longest homestand is five games over 15 days. That stretch begins on Feb. 11 and goes through the All-Star break, ending on Feb. 25.

*The second-longest homestand is four games over seven days from Jan. 2-8. That stretch includes matchups with Miami (Jan. 2), Utah (Jan. 4), New Orleans (Jan. 5) and Indiana (Jan. 8).

*Weekends in Cleveland will be busy, as the Cavaliers' schedule features 18 home weekend dates.

*The longest road trip, spanning six games over 11 days, is from Jan. 9-19. That trip includes matchups with New Orleans (Jan. 9), Houston (Jan. 11), L.A. Lakers (Jan. 13), Portland (Jan. 16), Utah (Jan. 18) and Denver (Jan 19).

*There are four games against Cleveland's 2018 Eastern Conference Finals opponent, the Boston Celtics. The first two in Boston are set for Nov. 30 and Jan. 23. The other two will take place at The Q (Feb. 5 and March 26).

*The final game of the season will be at home against the Charlotte Hornets on April 9.