Cleveland, San Antonio and Atlanta follow them…
The Golden State Warriors have established themselves as the Las Vegas favourites to win the NBA championship, although the Cleveland Cavaliers are also in contention.
READ MORE:
Hawks win showdown with Warriors: (Video) Top two teams in NBA clash.
Curry scores 51 in Warriors win: (Video) Point guard continues to push for MVP award.
Warriors GM says luxury tax inevitable: Golden State want to keep roster core intact.
With just two months remaining of the regular season, the Warriors have emerged as the favourites as they continue to lead the way in the Western Conference with a 42-9 record, the best in the NBA at the time of writing.
Point guard Stephen Curry is considered a strong candidate for the MVP award, Klay Thompson is continuing his development into one of the best shooting guards in the league while the rest of the roster including the likes of Draymond Green and Marreese Speights have all played key roles.
As a result, they are considered the favourites by the majority of books in Vegas as we reach a critical stretch of the regular season before teams gear up for a gruelling playoff run.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers are second favourite given their recent upturn in form after an initial struggle in the opening months of the new LeBron James era.
James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving recently led the team to a 12-game winning streak which moved them up into contention in the East, but the Chicago Bulls amongst others remain ahead of them.
Defending champions, the San Antonio Spurs, are listed as third while the Atlanta Hawks are fourth after coach Mike Budenholzer has effectively transformed them into the ‘Spurs of the East’.
The former Spurs assistant has undoubtedly used the knowledge he gained from Gregg Popovich to great effect this season and it has resulted in his team leading the East and looking like a genuine threat to the highly fancied Bulls and Cavaliers.
In contrast, a handful of teams including the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks have been eliminated from contention while the Milwaukee Bucks were the only team to eclipse their season win total by the All-Star break.
COMMENTS