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The New York Knicks are rolling and the Cleveland Cavaliers are reeling as the two teams enter Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night. New York looked down and out in the opening game of the series Tuesday night, trailing by 22 points in the final eight minutes of Game 1. Then the Knicks outscored Cleveland 44-11 in the fourth quarter and overtime to win 115-104. They will have the Madison Square Garden faithful behind them again, and New York is a 6.5-point home favorite in the latest Cavaliers vs. Knicks odds at FanDuel.

OG Anunoby returned from a hamstring injury for Monday's Game 1 and scored 13 points but struggled with his shot, going 2-for-9 from the field and making one of six from three-point range. He is expected to be good to go for Game 2, and neither team has any other notable injuries.

Here's a look at the best bets for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Cavaliers and Knicks from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every game 10,000 times. The model entered the conference finals of the 2026 NBA playoffs on a sizzling 26-10 roll (72%) on top-rated NBA spread picks this season. Anyone following its NBA betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.

Check out the FanDuel promo code before placing any bets Thursday on the NBA Playoffs.

NBA Playoffs picks, best bets for Thursday, May 21

Knicks -6.5

The Knicks are 52-42 against the spread, including 31-15 ATS at home. They are +205 in point differential over 11 playoff games, which equates to an average margin of victory of 18.6 points. New York is scoring 10 more points per game than the Cavs (119.9-109.9), has an 8.7 edge in rebounds and is hitting 7.6 more 3-pointers per contest in the playoffs. The SportsLine model has the Knicks covering the spread in 60% of its simulations, with a projected final margin of nearly 10 points.

Over 216.5

The Knicks are the second highest-scoring team in the playoffs, with the teams average a combined 230 points. New York also is second defensively (101.3 points per game), but Cleveland is giving up more than 109 points on average and showed serious defensive liabilities late in Game 1. The SportsLine model is projecting almost 220 points, with Over 216.5 cashing in 52.4% of simulations. The total has gone Over in five of Cleveland's last six games and five of the Knicks' past seven.
       

Karl-Anthony Towns Over 17.5 points

Towns is averaging 17 points in the playoffs after scoring 20 per game during the regular season. The SportsLine props model projects him to score 20.3 points in Game 2. The big man scored 18.7 points per game in the series with Atlanta in the opening round but that dropped to 15.5 against Philly, when he averaged nine fewer minutes because of foul trouble and lopsided games. He was just 6-for-14 from the field in scoring 13 points Tuesday, so if he hits his shots he should go Over this number.       

Donovan Mitchell Over 8.5 rebounds + assists

This number is Mitchell's average in the postseason, but he averaged 10.2 rebounds and assists in the regular season. He had five rebounds and three assists in Game 1, even as Cleveland stopped moving the ball around in the fourth quarter and overtime. In the previous two meetings with the Knicks, Mitchell had posted nine and 13 rebounds + assists. The SportsLine props model projects Mitchell for 9.3 rebounds + assists in Game 2.