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USATSI

The second half of the 2024-25 NBA season is firmly underway, and there are nine games on the schedule for Friday, including a massive Eastern Conference clash between the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. All-Star guard Jalen Brunson leads the Knicks with 26.0 points and 7.6 assists per contest, and he's once again been critical to New York's success. The Cavs were one of the biggest stories of the first half of this NBA season, and they look like maybe the team to beat as we get closer and closer to the playoffs. 

The Cavaliers sit atop the Eastern Conference with a 45-10 record, and they're 8-point favorites against the Knicks, who are third in the Eastern Conference at 37-18. Cleveland is -350 on the money line (bet $350 to win $100) while New York is at +278 (bet $100 to win $278), according to SportsLine consensus odds. The over/under is set at 241.5, with both sides priced at -110. 

If you're looking at player prop bets for Friday's critical NBA clash, including with Brunson, the SportsLine Projection Model has you covered. 

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past six-plus seasons. You can see all of the model's top-rated prop picks for every game under the "Prop Picks" tab. There are ratings of up to five stars assigned for all sorts of different prop bets for players. Those picks can be key for creating winning parlays on DraftKings, FanDuel, PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy or Sleeper Fantasy as well as same-game parlays on any available betting site. 

Let's dive into the SportsLine model's three highest-rated player prop recommendations for Knicks-Cavaliers and see what the payout would be if they were put into a same-game parlay. 

Karl-Anthony Towns Under 13.5 total rebounds (-104): 4.5 Stars

Towns is one of the NBA's top rebounders, averaging 13.5 per game, which ranks second in the league, and he's averaging 12.0 over his last 10 games. The big man has failed to meet his rebounds prop line in each of his last five games against teams with winning records, however, averaging 9.2 per game. SportsLine's model projects Towns to have 11.2 rebounds against the Cavs. 

Jarrett Allen Under 11.5 total rebounds (+110): 4 Stars

Cleveland also has one of the best rebounders in the NBA in Allen, who is ninth in the league with 10.5 boards per contest. But like Towns, the model thinks Allen will finish Under his rebounds prop line, projecting him to have 9.1 against the Knicks. Allen has finished Under his rebounds prop in five of his last eight home games against teams with both winning records and middle-third defenses. The Knicks also allow the fewest rebounds per game in the NBA this season.

Jalen Brunson Under 34.5 total points + assists (-113): 3.5 Stars

Brunson, who made his second All-Star Game this year, is enjoying another great season as a star for New York, but he has finished Under his points + assists prop in four of his last five games when the Knicks are underdogs and facing a team with a middle-third defense. Brunson is projected to finish Friday's game with 31.4 total points + assists against the Cavaliers, who are 10th in points allowed per game and eighth in assists allowed per game. 

Same-Game Parlay odds: +676