The No. 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers look to even their series with the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. Boston earned a 120-95 win in Game 1 on Tuesday. SportsLine consensus lists Boston as the 13.5-point favorite, while the over/under is 212 points (see up-to-date odds for every game this week on our NBA odds page). 

Before you make any Cavaliers vs. Celtics picks, you NEED to see what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past five-plus seasons. The model enters the conference semifinals in the 2024 NBA playoffs on a sizzling 94-61 roll on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning more than $2,800. Anyone following has seen HUGE returns!

The model knows Boston shooting guard Jaylen Brown opened the series on a high note, scoring 32 points, while grabbing six rebounds in Tuesday's win. It was the 31st game in a row in which Brown reached double-figure scoring. In the first round series victory over the Miami Heat, Brown averaged 22.8 points, seven rebounds and 2.2 assists. In three regular-season games against the Cavaliers, he had similar numbers, averaging 22.7 points.

The model also knows Cleveland shooting guard Donovan Mitchell provides a good deal of offense for Cleveland, and is coming off his third consecutive game with 30 or more points. In Game 1 at Boston, Mitchell poured in 33 points, while adding six rebounds and five assists. He just missed a double-double in the Game 7 win over Orlando on Sunday, scoring 39 points, while adding nine rebounds and five assists. Mitchell scored 50 points in a Game 6 loss to the Magic. In eight postseason starts, Mitchell is averaging 29.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.4 steals in 37.4 minutes.

The model has simulated Cavaliers vs. Celtics 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over on the point total, and it also says one side of the spread hits in over 50% of simulations!

Who wins Cavaliers vs. Celtics, and which side of the spread hits in over 50% of simulations? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of the spread you should be all over, all from the model on a 94-61 roll on top-rated NBA picks!