Breaking! Hawks are big underdogs to LeBron James, Cavaliers

Kent Bazemore (background) and the Hawks hope to have more playoff success against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers than they did in the Eastern Conference finals a year ago. (Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com)

By Jeff Schultz

April 29, 2016

The Hawks are significant underdogs in their series against Cleveland.

I know -- shocking, right?

The online odds website 5Dimes , which is generally in line with most oddsmakers and Las Vegas sportsbooks, has "money lines" of Cleveland at -475 and the Hawks at +380 in their second-round series. That's the equivalent of making the Cavaliers an almost 2-9 favorite (or the Hawks a 9-2 underdog). The same site has the Cavaliers listed as a 7½-point favorite for Game 1 in Cleveland Monday night.

Another online odds site, Bovada, hasn't posted numbers for the Hawks' second-round series, yet, but they released updated conference championship and NBA title odds. Cleveland is 2-7 to win the East, the Hawks are 15-2.

Bovada odds:

Eastern Conference

Cleveland Cavaliers 2-7

Toronto Raptors 11-2

Atlanta Hawks 15-2

Charlotte Hornets 20-1

Miami Heat 25-1

Indiana Pacers 75-1

Western Conference

Golden State Warriors 5-7

San Antonio Spurs 3-2

Oklahoma City Thunder 13-2

Portland Trail Blazers 33-1

Los Angeles Clippers 150-1

NBA championship

Golden State Warriors 6-5

San Antonio Spurs 2-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 10-3

Oklahoma City Thunder 10-1

Atlanta Hawks 33-1

Toronto Raptors 40-1

Portland Trail Blazers 66-1

Charlotte Hornets 75-1

Miami Heat 150-1

Indiana Pacers 200-1

Los Angeles Clippers 300-1

All of the Hawks players who were asked about Cleveland following Thursday's win over Boston fully expected to be underdogs.

"Any team with LeBron is always going to be considered the favorite," Kent Bazemore said. "But we believe in ourselves and we’re ready to get after it."

For my column advancing the Hawks-Cleveland series, click here.

For my column on the Hawks' series-clinching win over Boston, click here.

Here are links to the AJC's Hawks full coverage on MyAJC.com and to blogs on AJC.com.

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