The expectations only get greater from here... even after a loss.
Despite falling short of winning the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers are already being named the early favorite to win the 2016 NBA title, according to one Las Vegas sports book.
The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has given the Cavaliers early 9-4 odds to win the 2016 league championship, favoring them over newly crowned NBA title winners, the Warriors, as well as Oklahoma City Thunder, who each were given 5-1 odds. Westgate also gave the Los Angeles Clippers 10-1 odds and both the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs 12-1.
Westgate's thinking is simple. King James averaged a near triple-double over these Finals with 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists — pushing the Cavs to their absolute limit. And he did it without star teammates Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, who were both out with injuries. If they're back at full strength for the 2015-16 season, then James' chances to end Cleveland's 51-year championship drought immediately improve.
"Look at what they're doing without Love and Irving," said Jeff Sherman, assistant manager and NBA oddsmaker at the SuperBook, to ESPN. "We've seen with the Heat, where the first year LeBron didn't win. Usually, things improve, chemistry improves. We just expect that they'll be that much better next year and actually have some separation between other teams, assuming that they're healthy."
For laughs, teams such as the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers were given 80-1 and 200-1 odds, respectively, to win it all next season.
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