National Basketball Association

Kyrie Irving thinks Cavaliers are 'team to beat' over Warriors, Spurs

Published Apr. 1, 2016 5:06 p.m. ET

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have the third-highest winning percentage in the NBA. LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are on their roster, and they were two wins away from winning it all last season despite myriad injuries throughout the playoffs.

These facts read like the résumé of a powerful sledgehammer, but most still don't think the Cavaliers can topple the Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, should any of those three teams advance that far.

Irving wholeheartedly disagrees (via ESPN):

"Everything surrounding our team is just crazy to think that we're still in first place and we're still the team to beat, honestly," Irving said. "Regardless of what anybody else says of what we need and what we don't need and what we need to get better at -- us, internally, we know that we have to improve on a lot of things, but we've just got to handle business as professionals and continue to get better." Irving was then asked if he meant that Cleveland was the team to beat in the East or in the entire league, over the likes of the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. "I feel like we're the team to beat," Irving said. "I mean, honestly, it's open season until we get into the playoffs, so I have a lot more confidence than I think anyone realizes in our team and what's going on in our locker room."

The gap between Cleveland and the Western Conference's two top squads is wide. San Antonio and Golden State are a combined 131-19 right now. They own the NBA's top offense and the NBA's top defense, and rank first and second in net rating.

They are the runaway favorites to win the title, two all-time greats that don't have any glaring weaknesses. But Irving still thinks his team is the team to beat. Is he right?

Well, last week Cleveland lost to the Brooklyn Nets, so of course not. If the Cavaliers were in the West, there's an almost definite chance they wouldn't even reach the conference finals.

LeBron is declining—albeit still a dominant force—and they still have rotation issues to sort out in the frontcourt. Who should close at center: Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson, Channing Frye or Love? To that point, can Love even average more than 20 minutes per game in a series against the Warriors?

Cleveland's attack has hummed since the All-Star break, ranking second in offensive rating. But its defense is barely above average. This is a very, very good team, but there are zero reasons anyone can keep a straight face and call them the favorites.