Through 33 games, the Cleveland Cavaliers hold a 29-4 record and sit at the top of the Eastern Conference. Despite being on pace to finish with their best regular season record in franchise history, they only hold the third-best odds to win the 2024-25 NBA Championship.
Things couldn’t have started better for the Cavaliers this season; they currently have a .875 winning percentage and are on pace to lose only 15 games. The team’s best record came in 2008-09, finishing 66-16, led by LeBron James with a less-than-average supporting cast around him. Many expected Cleveland to be good, not this good, and not losing just four games by the start of 2025. They are second in the league in points per game at 122.4, first in overall, and three-point shooting at 50.4% and 40.8%, respectively, and hold the second-best winning margin average at +11.8 points.
About a year ago, Donovan Mitchell was in trade rumors, and it looked like he wouldn’t be staying in Cleveland long-term. Now, he is the face of the franchise and a key reason the team has seen so much success. With averages of 23.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game, he is their go-to man in a clutch situation and has come through for them multiple times this year. At only 31.5 minutes per game, Mitchell is the only player this year to lead a team in scoring while playing below 33 minutes a night. After it looked like he would ask for a trade to another contender, Mitchell now feels like the most popular Cavaliers player since James left in 2018.
The rise of Darius Garland and Evan Mobley has also been a considerable part of the Cavaliers’ success so far. Scoring-wise, Jarrett Allen has taken a step back from years prior, but so far, he is second in the league in shooting at 69.5% and is one of the most efficient players for Cleveland nightly. Both Mobley and Allen are in the top ten in the league in terms of shooting percentage, and this is a key reason why the Cavaliers lead the league in that category.
Along with them, Caris LeVert, Ty Jerome, and Georges Niang have all been great off the bench this year. Isaac Okoro has been perhaps the only negative for the Cavaliers this year, missing the last two weeks with a shoulder injury. He hasn’t been great in his games, but that hasn’t seemed to impact the Cavs so far.
Despite their fantastic play and historic record, Cleveland isn’t the betting favorite to win the championship. Last year in the playoffs, they got knocked out in the second round by the Celtics, and they never looked to have an edge against Boston during the entire series. The two have played twice in the regular season this year, with each team winning one game. They’ll almost certainly have to beat them to win it all, and because they haven’t yet when it matters, many people think they never will.
Sitting at 25-9 and second in the East, the Boston Celtics are still the betting favorite to win this year’s NBA championship. They dominantly won the title last year, losing only three of their 19 playoff games and finishing first in the Eastern Conference with 14 more wins than the next closest team. With a starting lineup of Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis, they had the best roster on paper and backed it up with their play.
This season, Boston brought back their entire roster, including key role players like Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser. Along with the All-Star caliber play from Tatum and Brown, Pritchard has strived this year in a more significant role with the team. Despite coming off the bench in every game he’s appeared in so far, Pritchard is averaging a career-high 15.5 points (42.3% 3pt shooting), 3.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game.
Though they are still five games behind the Cavaliers in the standings, the common thought is that Boston is still the better team. Despite their slight skid, losing three of their last six games, they’ve seen great success with this squad and could undoubtedly do it again this postseason.
The Thunder finished last year with the first seed in the West but were knocked out of the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the helm this year as an MVP candidate, Oklahoma City looks like the strongest competitor coming out of the Western Conference. They are currently on a 13-game winning streak and have a 28-5 record, sitting at the top of the West by six games.
Jalen Williams has quietly turned into a great partner for SGA, averaging a career-high 20.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists a night, all while not missing a game this season. Oklahoma City has also had several injuries from big men Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and the other Jaylen Williams, but that hasn’t impacted them so far. The only primary statistic in which the Thunder leads the league is the winning margin at +12.1 points, showing that they seem to take care of business every night. Things look good for the Thunder so far; they’ll have to prove themselves once the playoffs begin truly.
According to ESPN Bet, as of Jan. 3, the Boston Celtics hold the best odds to win the 2024-25 NBA Championship at +200. The Oklahoma City Thunder are behind with +340 odds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers are tied for third at +1000 to win it all. It’s no stretch to say that these are the three best teams in the league right now, but seeing the Cavaliers at odds with how they’ve been playing doesn’t seem right. Despite that, and even with how good they are playing, the betting public isn’t confident they can beat Boston in a playoff matchup.
Behind these three teams, the New York Knicks at +1000, Denver Nuggets at +1600, and Dallas Mavericks at +1700 are the teams with the next-best record to win it all this year.
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