Charles Barkley Makes Bold Playoff Prediction on Cleveland Cavaliers

For the first time in franchise history, the Cavaliers have won 50 of their first 60 games.

At 50-10, Cleveland has the best record in the NBA and has already surpassed last season's 48 wins with 22 games remaining. The Cavs are on pace for 68 victories, which would be a franchise record and tie for the fifth-most wins by an NBA team in a single season.

It's no wonder that the Cavaliers are collecting buzz in league and media circles, but Cleveland still lags behind the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder as betting favorites to win the championship, per ESPN BET.

However, many are quickly changing their minds and coming around to the idea of the Cavaliers as legitimate NBA Finals contenders. That includes Hall of Famer and NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley, who made a bold proclamation on Thursday night.

"The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to win the Eastern Conference," Barkley said. "They are fantastic. Going out and getting my man, De'Andre Hunter, was the missing piece."

Barkley referenced Cleveland's domination of the Knicks and Magic as a main reason why he believes the team is legitimate. A day later, the Cavaliers had a 22-point comeback win over the Celtics. Two days after that, the Cavs rallied from 18 down to beat the Trail Blazers.

Cleveland now has a win streak of at least 10 games for the third time this season, while no other team even has one. The Cavaliers are true title contenders and have been all along, even as analysts have struggled to put them in the same tier as the Celtics.

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