The 2018 NBA playoffs open Saturday with the banged-up Golden State Warriors listed as slight 6-5 championship favorites over the top-seeded Houston Rockets (5-4).

Following those heavyweights on the Westgate LV SuperBook odds board, the next three contenders all come from the East: Cleveland Cavaliers (8-1), Toronto Raptors (12-1) and Philadelphia 76ers (25-1).

Before you make your picks to win each conference and the NBA title, you need to see what Galin Dragiev, aka "The Dragon," has to say. The analytical expert with degrees in physics and mechanical engineering is on a mind-blowing run with his NBA picks.

He has nailed 16 of his past 22 picks -- a cash rate of 73 percent -- and is up well over $2,000 at SportsLine. Anyone following his picks is way, way up.

Now, Dragiev has examined the Vegas odds of every team winning the 2018 NBA championship, as well as the Eastern and Western conferences, and locked in his top targets and teams you need to avoid like the plague. He's only sharing them over at SportsLine.

We can tell you he's eyeing the Cavaliers as an 8-1 value pick to win it all.

"There are only two outcomes for them," Dragiev told SportsLine. "One is they are as bad as they've been in the regular season and they get beat in the second round by Toronto. The other is that they find a way to improve their defense. In that scenario, Kevin Love is fully healthy, George Hill locks down on the defensive end and LeBron James finds a way to carry them to another title. At these odds, I'll take a shot."

One shocker: Kelly wants no part of East top seed Toronto, saying the Raptors won't even make the NBA Finals.

"Their odds suggest they're better than they really are," Dragiev said. "Even if they grind through to the NBA Finals, there is just not enough talent there to compete with elite teams."

Dragiev also is backing a massive long shot to win its conference; we're talking about a huge potential payoff.

Who is Kelly backing to win the 2018 NBA Finals? And which long shot stuns the basketball world? Check out the NBA championship odds below and then visit SportsLine now to see Galin Dragiev's best bets for the 2018 NBA playoffs, all from the analytical expert who has nailed 16 of his last 22 picks and is up well over $2K picking NBA games.

Warriors 6/5
Rockets 5/4
Cavaliers 8/1
Raptors 12/1
76ers 25/1
Thunder 50/1
Trail Blazers 50/1
Jazz 80/1
Celtics 100/1
Wizards 200/1
Spurs 100/1
Heat 200/1
Pacers 200/1
Pelicans 200/1
Bucks 300/1
Timberwolves 300/1