In August, Cavs were marked as the favorites to win the league with 4-1 odds. Quite strange considering the fact that it was a completely new team with a rookie NBA coach. Cavs recent poor results haven’t gone unnoticed by major sports books.
Bovada ranks Cavaliers on the 4th spot with 6-1 odds. First spots feature Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors with 5-1 odds and the Spurs with 11-2.
Sportsbook still list Cavs as the overall favorites with 5/1, followed by Golden State, Chicago and San Antonio. Meanwhile, Atlanta, despite their amazing half season results and 9 successive wins over West conference teams, still languishing at 16/1. The surprising winning streak of Detroit Pistons brought them to the 16th spot with 150/1 (500/1 in the previous update).
Eastern conference
All major bookmakers place Cavs and Bulls as the favorites with 2/1 and 11/5 odds. Cleveland start 2015 as a new team and no one knows if they manage to become a team before the playoffs. Chicago proven to be a rather fragile team when it comes to injuries. Betting on Atlanta gives nice risk vs. reward with 4-1 odds.
Western Conference
Here most rate Golden State, Oklahoma and San Antonio as the favorites. Surprisingly OKC rated before the Spurs with 19/5 vs. 4/1.
Bottom Line
It seems that despite the disappointing 19W-18L and the fact that they start 2015 as a completely new team, many still believe that LeBron’s team has what it takes to lift the trophy. We hope they’re right, but David Blatt has a lot of work to do on the way.
Source: StandardPerHead.com