NBA Odds: Cleveland Cavaliers Remain East Favorites To Reach NBA Finals

USA Today

With about 20 games or more played by the majority of teams in the NBA, the 2015-16 NBA season has reached the quarter mark with the league starting to shape up regarding which teams are poised to contention in each conference.

Unlike the last few years, the Eastern Conference has more teams over .500 than the West. Not only does the Eastern Conference have more, but there are many more teams with winning records in the East this year.

At this point, the West only have six teams at .500 or better on the season. The East, however, has 10 with the New York Knicks on the verge of changing that win one more win with a record of 10-11.

Although the East appears to be a much more competitive conference this season, the odds haven’t changed regarding the team favored to advance to the NBA Finals. The defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers are still the favorites to win the East at -275, according to Bovada.lv.

It comes as no surprise that the undefeated NBA champion Golden State Warriors the favorites to come out of the West (-150) and win it all in the NBA Finals (+140). The Warriors have played flawless basketball thus far in their title defense with winning back-to-back championships seeming inevitable at this point. More people are wondering whether Stephen Curry and company can best the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls for the best record in NBA history (72-10) than if they’ll win another title.

Needless to say, there’s a lot of basketball left to be played, but the Cavaliers and Warriors are still considered to be the cream of the crop among oddsmakers.