FanDuel NBA Single-Game Strategy: Celtics/Jazz DFS Preview
Hello Grinders. FanDuel has a solid single-game offering for tonight’s Boston Celtics vs Utah Jazz game. Let’s dive in and see what we can make of this game.
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The Spread
The Jazz enter as 4-point home favorites on the NBA odds board but have slipped a bit lately. They have lost their last three home games, first to the Spurs (113-104), then to the Rockets (120-110) and most recently to the Suns (131-111). The Celtics rank 3rd in defensive efficiency while the Jazz have dropped all the way down to 12th. The Celtics are coming off a back-to-back so they will have some fatigue, and as we’ll see shortly, they are also dealing with some key injuries. The Jazz still have a strong 36-21 record on the season but their recent struggles suggest this could be the close game that Vegas is predicting it to be.
The Injuries
Kemba Walker continues to miss time with a knee injury and missed Tuesday’s game. While Coach Stevens left the possibility open for a return tonight against the Jazz, he called it unlikely. As such, I’m treating him as doubtful for this writeup.
The Jazz enter healthy and don’t play again until Friday, so this isn’t a back-to-back for them. That’s noteworthy because we’ve seen them proactively give Mike Conley a breather on back-to-backs. I’m expecting the full Jazz squad to be available tonight.
The Options
Jayson Tatum – Tatum is $16,000 and the most expensive player on this slate, but you can make a good argument it’s warranted. Per CourtIQ when Kemba Walker has been off the court this season, Tatum leads the team with a 32.5% usage rate and averages 1.31 fantasy points per minute. His +4.4% usage bump is a sign he’s more than willing to carry this offense on his shoulders when the Celtics are without their starting point guard, and he’s an elite option in this format assuming Kemba is out once again.
Daniel Theis – Theis stands out as an option to provide some salary relief while still grabbing a starter who has upside. We’ve started to see Theis’ minutes trend upward while Enes Kanter has started to see his role shrink. Over his last 10 games, Theis is averaging 26.6 minutes per game, which is up from his 23.2 average per game this regular season. Those extra minutes have been coming at Kanter’s expense, whose minutes per game are at 16.1 over his last 10 games, down from his 18.1 average this season. It might seem like nothing, but it’s a sign the Celtics have started to entrust Theis as their go-to big man, and his defense is going to be needed against Rudy Gobert down low tonight.
Rudy Gobert – Speaking of Gobert, I like his price tag of $13,500. It’s not the greatest matchup against Theis, but you save $1,500 by dropping down from Donovan Mitchell at $15,000. Mitchell has arguably been in better form lately as he’s nearly dropped 40 FanDuel points now in back-to-back games, but he’s going to have his hands full with the defense of Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown. If I’m spending up for a Jazz player, it’s Gobert for me, and it’s mainly a price play.
Mike Conley – This is a tough pill to swallow as Conley is coming off a dud performance where he finished with just 6.5 FanDuel points in 22 minutes against Ricky Rubio and the Suns, who owned him last game. Prior to that outing, Conley had scored 30.9, 33, 32.6, 39.1 and 31.8 FanDuel points. In other words, he had been in solid form lately and putting up 30+ FanDuel points as the team’s starting point guard regularly. If you can get over the recency bias and chalk up his last game as just a blip on the radar, then $9,500 for the Jazz’s starting point guard is a very fair price.
Thanks for reading, and good luck tonight. May variance be on your side.