The 16-3 Celtics are visiting the 17-3 Cavs on Sunday afternoon in a clash of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics could take over the top spot and hand the Cavs their third straight loss, but they won’t be at full strength after both Jaylen Brown (illness) and Derrick White (foot) were ruled out Sunday afternoon before game time. Their absences make Payton Pritchard ($5,200) a top-value play to build around in afternoon DFS contests that include this marquee matchup on the three-game slate. The top contest is the NBA $2K And-One (Afternoon).
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PG/SG Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers, $5,200
Pritchard is already priced up a little bit since White’s absence was expected after he left with right foot soreness in Friday’s win over the Bulls. He’s still a great value, though, since Brown’s absence came as a surprise.
Pritchard has been a very solid contributor for the Celtics overall this season and has stepped up when called upon to play a larger role. On the year, he has averaged 0.98 fantasy points per minute on a 19.8% usage rate, but with White and Brown off the floor, his usage rate increases by 5.5 percentage points. This will be the first game this season that the Celtics have been without both players in the same contest.
In the last matchup between these teams, Pritchard played 26 minutes and had 13 points and 23.5 fantasy points with nine field goal attempts. He had double-digit field goal attempts in each of his last two games, posting 20 points and 35 fantasy points against the Clippers followed by a season-high 29 points on his way to 44.75 DraftKings points on Friday in 29 minutes against the Bulls.
The Cavs defense isn’t an ideal matchup, but Pritchard should get plenty of work and be a great value. He can fill up the box score in multiple ways and should be fairly productive regardless of the game script.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $2K And-One (Afternoon)
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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 skill 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.
