2. Cleveland Cavaliers; 18-9
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been a regular season threat in their Donovan Mitchell era. They are currently a top-five team throughout the standings across both conferences. Cleveland is 19-10 at home and 18-9 on the road, which does give a nice balance for both aspects of games for their squad.
Over the summer they added sharpshooter Max Strus, a name that is more than familiar amongst Heat fans. He has fit in nicely for Cleveland and provided a significant upgrade at small forward. Strus is averaging 12.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 3.8 APG and most notably brings NBA Finals experience to the table.
The problem with Cleveland is that they just aren’t proven enough in the playoffs. They had similar success in the regular season last year compared to this year but got bounced out of the first round by the New York Knicks. However, having a top road record in the league could be a difference maker this time around when they travel to hostile environments on the NBA’s biggest stage.