The Cleveland Cavaliers are just 11-15 straight up and 9-17 against the spread over their last 26 games. With the playoffs now set to begin, the Cavaliers are hoping to flip the switch and begin a successful title defense.
NBA playoff odds 2017: Cavaliers betting favorites over Celtics in Eastern Conference
The Cleveland Cavaliers will try to shake off their regular season slump with a strong postseason, and LeBron James and company are the Eastern odds favorites at the sportsbooks.
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Cleveland is a -275 favorite on the odds to win the Eastern Conference at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Despite the team’s struggles over the second half of the season and some strong contenders emerging in the East, the Cavaliers remain the heavy favorite to win the conference.
The defending champions still have the most talented team in the East, and LeBron James has been to six straight NBA Finals between his stints in Miami and Cleveland. The Cavaliers will try to break their current four-game losing streak in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers (+6600 to win the East), with Cleveland at an 83.3 percent chance to win the series according to PredictionMachine.com.
While the Cavaliers may have the best team on paper in the East, the Boston Celtics (+425) had the best team on the court. The Celtics earned the top seed in the conference with a 53-29 SU and 41-40-1 ATS season, and they’ll have home court over all of their Eastern Conference rivals.
The first round may not be a cakewalk for Boston, however, as Chicago (+6600) is 16-8 SU and 15-8-1 ATS in its last 24 games against the Celtics per the OddsShark NBA Database.
The Toronto Raptors (+900) surged up to the No. 3 seed in the East with a 12-2 SU and 8-5-1 ATS finish to the regular season. With Kyle Lowry back from injury and the team clicking well, the stage could be setting up for an intriguing matchup with the Cavaliers in the second round. But first, the Raptors will need to take care of business in the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks (+5000).
The Washington Wizards (+900) fell out of the top three in the conference with a disappointing 8-9 SU and 6-11 ATS run to end the regular season. The Wizards will take on the Atlanta Hawks (+5000) in the first round, who are 4-1 SU and ATS over their last five games, including two upsets over Cleveland and one over Boston.
These two teams are 5-5 SU and ATS against each other in the last 10 games of this head-to-head series.
NBA Eastern Conference Betting Odds
Cleveland Cavaliers -275
Boston Celtics +425
Washington Wizards +900
Toronto Raptors +900
Atlanta Hawks +5000
Milwaukee Bucks +5000
Indiana Pacers +6600
Chicago Bulls +6600
