Friday night hoops rarely disappoint, but this week, there’s a real treat on the docket as the Cleveland Cavaliers head up to New England to take on the Boston Celtics.
The Cavaliers picked up right where they left off before the All-Star break, with a win over the red-hot Brooklyn Nets followed by emphatic wins over fellow playoff-bound teams in the Memphis Grizzlies and New York Knicks. Though Cleveland’s record-setting pace has slowed from the start of the year, it remains a true juggernaut in the NBA landscape.
Not to be outdone, the Celtics enjoyed a five-game win streak on either side of the league’s All-Star break, including a pair of wins over rivals and potential first-round playoff series opponents, the Knicks. This game looms large as Boston continues to claw toward the Cavs atop the Eastern Conference.
With a massive, game of the week level matchup on the slate this Friday night at TD Garden, check out our Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics predictions, including our NBA expert picks, with tip set for February 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Matchup Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics Overview
Teams: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics
Date: Friday, February 28, 2025
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: TD Garden
Win Probabilities
The prediction tip for the winner in the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics is the Boston Celtics.
Projected Final Score
Our predicted final score for this NBA matchup is Boston Celtics 107-111 Cleveland Cavaliers.
Expert Prediction: Who Wins?
It is hard to overstate the importance of this matchup. By Eastern Conference standards, it is the biggest game of the regular season thus far. It features the two best teams in the conference, with the Cleveland Cavaliers remaining a handful of games up on the charging Boston Celtics.
With the Cavaliers and Celtics battling for the first seed and home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, this matchup will go a long way toward deciding the East’s representative in June’s NBA Finals.
Adding to the drama is that this is the fourth and final regular-season meeting between the two foes in the 2024-25 campaign. Boston is up 2-1 in the season series through three games. Crucially, it has gone to Ohio and won a game—a 112-105 win in early February—while defending the home floor.
Now, with the season series swinging back to TD Garden for the final chapter, it’s the Cavs’ turn to strike back – setting up an incredibly exciting matchup.
Why the Cleveland Cavaliers Can Cover
If styles make fights, then this is going to be an absolutely incredible fight. It will, however, also favor the Cleveland Cavaliers’ corner of the brawl. Though the Cavaliers and Boston Celtics have similar strengths, weaknesses, and team construction, so far this year, everything the Celtics do, the Cavs do better.
Over the last 10 games, Cleveland has been the NBA’s leader in offensive rating. The Celtics, meanwhile, rank fifth in offensive rating. The Cavs’ offense has become more efficient, as they rank second in true shooting percentage, while the Celtics are fourth by the same metric.
Cleveland is fifth in defensive rating, while Boston has eked it out, sitting fourth over the same span—though the opponent factor can’t be ignored here, as the Cs have faced some woeful opponents in that time.
With just 10 and 16 losses, the Celtics and Cavaliers are both very surefire teams in terms of consistency. When the pair both show up, and they surely will in a matchup on Friday, the Cavs have been the better team.
Crucially, too, is a recent upgrade in Cleveland. The last time these two teams met, in early February, the Celtics snuck out a seven-point win. However, they were aided by a disastrous game from Cavs sixth man Caris LeVert. The NBA journeyman was -23 in a seven-point loss, missing all three of his shots from deep, all five shots from the floor, and failing to get to the line.
In the weeks since, Cleveland has traded LeVert for a considerable upgrade, with former Atlanta Hawk De’Andre Hunter now in place. Hunter’s presence removes a spot of vulnerability in Cleveland, as he has hit the ground running. In five games for the Cavs, Hunter has averaged 13.4 points on 48% shooting – and has knocked down multiple threes in four of five games.
In a game of mirroring styles, the Cavaliers’ reflection looms slightly larger, giving them a path to cover in a massive affair.
Why the Boston Celtics Can Cover
Though the Cleveland Cavaliers have the edge over the Boston Celtics in most team comparison metrics, there are a couple of advantages for the Celtics to uncover.
The first comes in their star player. In Jayson Tatum, the Celtics have an uber-consistent scorer, but the Cavs – with their mix of bigs and guards – don’t have a long wing capable of defending. De’Andre Hunter will likely draw the matchup, but Tatum has given him trouble in the past.
In three of four games against Hunter’s Atlanta Hawks last year, Tatum topped 30 points. On his own, Tatum will give Boston an edge that the Cavs will have difficulty replicating.
The second edge the Celtics can gain is extra possessions. Boston and Cleveland rely heavily on their three-point shooting, with Boston’s 53.4% of shots from deep leading the NBA and Cleveland in fourth at 45.5%. That sort of reliance brings variance, but the Celtics can mitigate it slightly.
Despite the Cavs’ size, they allow offensive rebounds at a higher margin than the Celtics. Opponents are rebounding misses at a 24.6% clip against the Cavaliers, while for their part, the Celtics are getting rebounds on 24.3% of their misses. Getting even a handful of extra possessions would open up a clear path to victory for the Celtics in a tight game.
How to Make Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Picks
Ready to make picks on the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics matchup on Friday, February 28? Make sure to head over to Sportzino, where you can find every NBA game on the slate this weekend and so much more!
