The Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the surprises of the NBA season, exiting the All-Star break 38-23 and the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Not only have the Cavaliers been winning a lot of games, but for people who have been betting on them, they have been very good against the spread as well.
The Cavaliers are 32-26-3 ATS, which ranks fifth in the Eastern Conference and eighth overall in the NBA. They have been even better at home, where they are 20-10-1, which is tied for the best home ATS record in the NBA with the Nuggets and 76ers.
When it comes to the over/under, the under is hitting at a big-time clip. A big reason for this is that the Cavaliers have the No. 1 defense in the NBA, with a defensive rating of 109.3.
The Cavaliers are 28-33 to the over, which ranks 26th in the NBA.
Cleveland is an interesting bet to win the Eastern Conference at +1100. Right now, they are the No. 4 seed, which is good enough for home-court advantage in the first round. However, this is a very young team that has just started playing together, while the three teams above the Cavs in the Eastern Conference (Celtics, Bucks and 76ers) are all teams with a ton of playoff experience.
Could the Cavaliers pull the upset against one of those top teams? Possibly, but more than likely, they are going to have to beat two of those teams, which would be a very difficult ask for such a young team that only reached the play-in last year.
When it comes to winning the title, the Cavaliers are +2900, the 10th-best odds in the league. It has been a very good year for the Cavaliers, but they still have a long way to go before they are competing with the elite teams in the playoffs.
However, a futures bet next season could be the play. Keep this young, growing team on your radar.
