For most of the regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been atop the Eastern Conference.
They’re currently tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the entire league, and it’s been a long while since they weren’t the top-seeded team in the East.
Nevertheless, they’re still not given the biggest vote of confidence.
According to oddsmakers, they’re just the third-best team in the league, or at least the team with the third-best odds to go the distance this season.
As shown on FanDuel Sportsbook, the Cavs are right behind the Boston Celtics and Thunder in that regard, currently boasting +900 odds.
That’s far behind the +175 and +200 odds given to the defending NBA champions and the Thunder, respectively.
This shouldn’t be much of a surprise.
The Cavs don’t usually get the respect and recognition other teams get, and since they don’t have a top-ten player in the league right now, that’s not likely to change any time soon.
That’s why Kenny Atkinson’s team should use this as motivation.
They know they must prove themselves at the highest level and the biggest stage.
Granted, not many people thought the Cavaliers would be as dominant as they’ve been this season, and the playoffs are an entirely different thing.
Getting the job done in the regular season is impressive and worthy of praise, but we’ve seen the No. 1 seed crumble in a seven-game series way too many times in the past.
This team has everything they need to prove the doubters wrong, but for now, they’ll just have to deal with the disrespect.
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