The Celtics are looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season as they roll into Charlotte on Friday. The defending champs rallied to force overtime in Indiana before losing to the Pacers, 135-132. Jayson Tatum ($10,000) came up clutch to get to OT and finished with 37 points and 62.0 fantasy points in 43 minutes.
Tatum and the C’s continue their road trip Friday with a matchup against the 2-2 Hornets, who rank in the middle of the pack in pace, but have the second-worst defensive efficiency rating and have given up the second-most fantasy points to opposing small forwards.
In this matchup, the Celtics are 11-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, and the game total is 232. Tatum is a good pay-up play for DFS contests like the NBA $350K Friday 8’s [$100K to 1st], and he also offers some great props to smash this Friday night. Here are my favorites:
Best Jayson Tatum Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Jayson Tatum 30+ points (+125)
No need to get complicated to start. Tatum has a great chance to drop at least 30 in this matchup and getting it at plus-odds seems like a steal.
In six games against the Hornets since 2022-23, Tatum has averaged 38.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He scored 30+ points in six straight games before scoring just 25 points the last time he faced them on April 1 of last year.
Since 2021, he has scored 41, 44, 33, 51, 45 and 25 points in his six road games in Charlotte. The Duke product seems to love coming back to North Carolina and dropping high-scoring games.
If you want to take a longer shot on Tatum, he’s +850 to score 40+, and as you can see from those recent results in Charlotte, that’s definitely within the realm of possibility.
Jayson Tatum 50+ Points + Rebounds + Assists (+300)
With Al Horford (injury management) ruled out, Tatum will have more responsibility on the boards. So far this season, Tatum is averaging 7.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists, while last year he averaged 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
If he reaches 30+ points with 13-15 rebounds and assists he’ll be very close to 50 and could easily hit at this number, which will triple up your investment. It’s definitely not a lock, but it’s also definitely realistic.
Jayson Tatum over 1.5 Blocks + Steals (-150)
If you’re looking for a safer way to play Tatum than taking a shot on him stuffing the stat sheet, this is a very solid pick that should return good results. Tatum has averaged 2.0 steals and 0.6 blocks per game in his five games this season.
He had a season-high four steals against the Pacers on Wednesday and has multiple steals in each of his last three games. He’s tacked on a block in three of his five games, as well, so while his block production isn’t reliable enough to target on its own, it makes a nice combo play with his steals at this number.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
