Excerpt from The NBA Ramblings:

Enough about who are the favorites to win the championship, make the playoffs, or win 70 games this season. Instead, let’s take a look at the over/under for wins set by the Las Vegas Hilton. As always, I will revisit at the season end (provided I hit at least .500) or not (assuming less than .500).

TAKE THE OVER
Five teams set to beat expectations.

1. Charlotte Hornets (19.5 games)
Like most professional leagues, anyone can beat anyone on a given night. Throw in home court advantage and a good draft and the Hornets will improve their win total to somewhere in the twenties.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers (31.5 games)
With Kyrie Irving ready to make his first leap and a strong (yes young, but strong) supporting cast this will be a team that surprises a lot of middle-of-the-road teams and may even find themselves in the race for the final playoff seed.

3. Miami Heat (60 games)
If healthy they could make a run at 70 games. It all comes down to motivation which makes this “over” pick a little shaky.

4. Milwaukee Bucks (37.5 games)
A backcourt that can score each night and a frontcourt that should defend each night equals a team that should hang pretty close to .500 (or 41 wins).

5. Sacramento Kings (29.5 games)
This is my surprise pick. Tyreke Evans seems like a “contract year” type player. Given this, I am expecting big things from him.

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David S. Grant is an author and NBA blogger.  For more information go to http://www.davidsgrant.com and follow David .david_s_grant