NBA Playoffs Betting Preview: Cleveland Cavaliers Lead Eastern Conference Odds

LeBron James is used to entering the NBA playoffs as the favorite and will do so yet again this year with the second-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers (53-29). The Cavs are 1-2 to win the Eastern Conference and 11-5 co-favorites with the Golden State Warriors at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark to take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The Cavaliers won the Central Division for the third straight time with James on their side and first since seeing him leave for the Miami Heat as a free agent in the summer of 2010.

The Heat were favored to win the East and the NBA championship each of James’ four seasons in South Beach, winning back-to-back league titles in 2012 and 2013 before losing to the San Antonio Spurs last year.

Cleveland’s first-round opponent in this postseason will be the seventh-seeded Boston Celtics (40-42), who slipped into the playoff picture when Miami stumbled down the stretch without James.

The Celtics are 66-1 to win the East and are 150-1 to win the NBA title, and they obviously would cut down their odds significantly for both by pulling off what would be a major upset of the Cavs here, according to sportsbooks.

The top-seeded Atlanta Hawks (60-22) look to be Cleveland’s main competition to get to the NBA Finals along with the third-seeded Chicago Bulls (50-32), who the Cavs could meet in the second round.

Atlanta won the Southeast Division in a runaway, setting a franchise record for wins, and is the second choice to win the East at 13-4 and 12-1 to win the league championship. The Hawks open up the postseason against the eighth-seeded Brooklyn Nets (38-44), who are 75-1 to win the East and 200-1 to win the title on the NBA betting futures.

The only team with longer odds to win the conference and championship this year than the Nets is the sixth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks (41-41), who have the toughest road to the NBA Finals.

The Bucks are 100-1 to win the East and 250-1 to win the NBA title, and they would have to beat Chicago in the first round and likely Cleveland in the second round and Atlanta in the Eastern Conference Finals just for a shot at the championship.

The Hawks may face a tough test, though, in the second round against the winner between the fourth-seeded Toronto Raptors (49-33) and fifth-seeded Washington Wizards (46-36).

The Raptors have won seven of the last eight meetings in the series with Washington, according to the OddsShark NBA Database. And they are 16-1 to win the East and 50-1 to win the NBA title. The Wizards are 25-1 to win the conference and 75-1 to win the league title.