This time of the year is always earmarked for March Madness but as the tournament winds down and the calendar flips to April, the sports world will turn its attention to the upcoming NBA playoffs. I figured we’d get an early jump on the proceedings since the NBA season is already winding down.

So let’s look at the hardwood where NBA teams are currently jostling for playoff spots or in some cases, lottery balls. But I’m not paying too much attention on the teams that are tanking; my focus is solely dedicated towards those who are gearing up for the playoffs.

As it stands right now, the Cleveland LeBrons, I mean the Cleveland Cavaliers are penciled in as the favorites to win the NBA title at 2/1 odds, despite being the second best team in the Eastern Conference. The best team in the conference – the Atlanta Hawks – are only 10/1 odds. This shows that regular season records really don’t matter in predicting what happens in the playoffs. Everybody starts clean and match-ups usually dictate who is tabbed the favorite. That said, the Cavs have LeBron James and, well, the Atlanta Hawks don’t. Just below the Cavs at 12/5 odds are the Golden State Warriors, followed closely by the defending champions, the San Antonio Spurs at 6/1 odds.

These four teams are being heavily billed as the teams that will make up the conference title series in the East and the West, but just because everybody assumes they’ll make it, that doesn’t mean other teams are just going to lay down and let that happen.