This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
The Celtics are in desperation mode, a scenario they surely never imagined they'd be stuck in coming into the series. Boston may well be broken beyond repair after a 26-point loss in Game 3, but they'll at least be at full health as they attempt to save their season Tuesday night.
With just one game on the ledger, we're dealing with FanDuel's single-game contest rosters, which are comprised as follows:
- MVP- (Garners points at 2x the normal rate)
- STAR- (Garners points at 1.5x the normal rate)
- PRO- (Garners points at 1.2x the normal rate)
- Two Utility spots- (Garner points at normal rate)
With salaries also being different than in conventional FanDuel contests on multi-game slates and top players inevitably headed for heavy rostering, there are definitely strategic elements particular to single-game lineups. Finding key value plays for the two utility spots is undoubtedly key, as it enables you to fill out the multiplier spots with some of the top projected producers.
Slate Overview
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The Heat are listed as 1.5-point favorites Tuesday after being saddled with underdog status in the first three games, while the projected total of 216.5 points seems somewhat on the low side considering two of the first three contests have finished with at least 230 points.
Injury Situations to Monitor
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Kevin Love, MIA (lower leg): PROBABLE
Love suffered his injury early in Game 3 and remained out, but he's apparently made enough progress to suit up Tuesday.
Other notable injuries:
Tyler Herro, MIA (hand): OUT
Elite Players
The two highest-salaried players on the slate are Jimmy Butler ($17,500) and Jayson Tatum ($17,000). Both are excellent candidates for the MVP spot, and whichever doesn't make the cut in your lineup is naturally very viable for the STAR spot.
Butler wasn't as big a contributor in Game 3 as previous postseason contests, but he still turned in 38.6 FD points on the strength of 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals. However, he'd scored over 57 FD points in four of the previous five contests, and with a chance to close out the series at home, Butler could be back to an outsized role Tuesday.
Tatum's Game 3 downturn was certainly concerning, as he shot just 6-for-18 on his way to a modest 14 points. He still totaled a respectable 32 FD points, but with everything on the line for Boston on Tuesday, output much closer to the 57.3 FD points he'd generated in the previous seven postseason games would seem to be the likelier scenario.
Expected Chalk
With only one game on the ledger, the likes of Bam Adebayo ($15,500), Jaylen Brown ($13,500), Marcus Smart, BOS ($12,000) and Caleb Martin ($10,000) should also be very popular. All four players make for very viable options for the STAR or PRO spots.
Adebayo had only 22.6 FD points in Game 3, but that was a byproduct of the lopsided game script, as he logged a light workload of 26 minutes. However, he'd averaged 46 FD points in the first two games and hadn't been under 33.4 FD points in seven contests overall prior to Sunday.
Brown had a second straight poor performance in Game 3, and he's now shot 32.5 percent over the last two contests. However Brown was averaging 37.1 FD points and shooting 53.6 percent over the previous 14 postseason contests, and with Boston's season on the line, a bounce-back performance wouldn't surprise.
Smart bounced back from scoring just 13.3 FD points in Game 2 to post 28.8 in Game 3, but he still shot just 2-for-8. Nevertheless, he should remain popular with such a limited player pool.
Martin has now scored over 30 FD points in all three games of the series, shooting 63.2 percent, including 47.6 percent from behind the arc.
Key Values
The following players make for strong candidates for the Utility spots:
Gabe Vincent, MIA ($8,000)
Vincent produced a season-high 29 points in Game 3, leading to a tally of 39.9 FD points. His salary remains unchanged for Game 4, and it's worth noting he also supplied 26.6 FD points in Game 1 on 4-for-6 shooting from the field. While Vincent certainly has some volatility to his production, he makes for an intriguing tournament play against a Celtics team that has an abysmal 124.4 defensive rating and is allowing 51.9 percent shooting in the first three games of the series.
Derrick White, BOS ($7,000)
White has averaged a solid 20.5 FD points over the first three games of the series, and his best fantasy performance yet came in Game 3, when he entered the starting five for the first time. White scored 24.8 FD points with the help of a steal and two blocks, as well as a 50.0 percent success rate from distance. With his defensive prowess a very valuable asset and Boston having no real answer for Miami yet, White could well earn another starting assignment that would give him a good opportunity to pay off his very modest salary.
ALSO CONSIDER: Kyle Lowry, MIA ($9,000); Robert Williams, BOS ($7,500)
