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Cavaliers remain favorite to win NBA title

The Golden State Warriors are 61-13 and have lost just twice at home all season. The Warriors have been one of the most dominant regular-season teams in recent memory, with an average point differential that rivals that of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls dynasty. You’d think that team would be the favorite to win the NBA title, right?

Wrong.

The Cleveland Cavaliers remain the favorite to win the championship with 2/1 odds, and the Warriors are just behind at 12/5. Vegas just really believes in LeBron James and his cohorts.

Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports

Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports

Betting on the Cavaliers certainly wouldn’t be a bad play. Cleveland has been dominant since James came back from nagging injuries in January, and they haven’t lost a home game during that span. James has been playing at an MVP level, while Kyrie Irving has stepped his game up. The trades for Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert were huge, and Kevin Love remains a threat, even if he’s having a down season.

Even so, it’s hard to bet against the might of Golden State. The Splash Brothers bring a ton of offensive firepower, but the Warriors are also the best defensive team in the league thanks in large part to the frontcourt tandem of Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green.

As great as these two teams are playing, though, it’s certainly not a foregone conclusion that they’ll be duking it out in the NBA Finals. The San Antonio Spurs are in a groove thanks to the resurgence of Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker, and the defending champs have 6/1 odds to win it all.

Then there’s the Atlanta Hawks, the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks went through a recent rough patch, but they’ve turned things around and are ready to get the postseason rolling. Atlanta has 10/1 odds to win it all.

The Chicago Bulls (14/1), Houston Rockets (14/1), Memphis Grizzlies (14/1) and Los Angeles Clippers (18/1) are the only other teams really considered title contenders at this point. The Bulls should be getting Derrick Rose back soon, but they’ve been inconsistent all season. The Rockets have an MVP candidate in James Harden, but will they be healthy enough? The Grizzlies have struggled against elite competition of late and the Clippers have no depth. Still, if things break right, perhaps these teams can make a run.

A team out of the running at 33/1 is the Oklahoma City Thunder. Once it was announced that Kevin Durant was out for the year, that was it. As good as Russell Westbrook is, there’s no title run without Durant.

Here’s the full title odds:

Cleveland Cavaliers                         2/1

Golden State Warriors                   12/5

San Antonio Spurs                           6/1

Atlanta Hawks                                   10/1

Chicago Bulls                                      14/1

Houston Rockets                              14/1

Memphis Grizzlies                           14/1

Los Angeles Clippers                       18/1

Oklahoma City Thunder                33/1

Portland Trailblazers                       33/1

Dallas Mavericks                               40/1

Toronto Raptors                               50/1

Washington Wizards                       100/1

Boston Celtics                                    200/1

Indiana Pacers                                   200/1

Miami Heat                                         200/1

Milwaukee Bucks                             200/1

New Orleans Pelicans                    300/1

Charlotte Hornets                            500/1

Brooklyn Nets                                   500/1

Phoenix Suns                                     1000/1

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