The Boston Celtics play host to the Los Angeles Lakers at 8 p.m. ET Thursday. Boston is on a roll, having won five in a row and nine of 10. L.A., meanwhile, is coming off the worst loss of LeBron James' career, and the rest of the Lakers' roster is the subject of rampant rumors as Thursday's 3 p.m. ET NBA trade deadline looms. Boston is an eight-point favorite in the latest Lakers vs. Celtics odds. The over-under for total points scored is 224.5, up three from the opening line. Before you lock in Lakers vs. Celtics picks and NBA predictions for this historic rivalry showdown, check out the results from the SportsLine Projection Model. 

This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, is crushing its NBA picks this season. It entered Week 17 of the 2018-19 NBA season with a sterling 200-146 record on all top-rated picks, returning more than $4,000 to anybody following them. And it has been particularly red-hot on its A-rated NBA picks against the spread, entering Week 17 on a blistering 35-19 run. Anybody following it is way up. 

Now, it has crunched the numbers for Lakers vs. Celtics. We can tell you it's leaning under, but it has also generated a strong against-the-spread pick that cashes in over 50 percent of simulations, showing clear value to one side. That pick is only available at SportsLine. 

The model knows the Celtics won their fifth game in a row Tuesday, 103-96 at Cleveland. That was without star point guard Kyrie Irving and forward Marcus Morris. Those two veterans have been key pieces to Boston's 9-1 streak. In fact, over the past two weeks, they've accounted for 43 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists per game. They'll both play Thursday against the Lakers. 

Boston is 22-6 at home, including a whopping 18-10 against the spread at TD Garden, among the top five marks in the league. They could be facing a new-look Lakers team depending on how Thursday's trade deadline unfolds.

But just because Boston has home-court advantage doesn't mean it'll cover the Lakers vs. Celtics spread.

The model also knows the Lakers were blown out by the Pacers 136-94 on Tuesday, the worst loss of James' career. They've lost four of six, but the issue has been clear during that span -- they're 0-4 when they score 105 points or fewer, and 2-0 when they pass that number. 

But LeBron is back, and that makes all the difference on the offensive end. In the team's 13 games leading up to Tuesday that James has played in since the start of December, the Lakers have averaged 115.4 points, and only twice were they held under 110.

James is averaging 21 points, 10.5 rebounds and nine assists in his two games back from an injury that kept him out more than a month. The last time he played Boston was in Game 7 of the 2018 Eastern Conference finals -- he had 35 points and 15 rebounds in Cleveland's 87-79 win in Boston. 

Who wins Lakers vs. Celtics? And which side of the spread hits in over 50 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Celtics vs. Lakers spread you should be all over Thursday, all from the model that's up more than $4,000 on NBA picks this season.