Tatum (Achilles injury management) will miss his first game of the season Thursday vs. the Thunder. Also, Payton Pritchard ($6,600, neck) will play after missing one game, Derrick White ($8,000, knee) remains questionable and Nikola Vucevic (finger) is out.
After tearing his Achilles during the playoffs last May, Tatum made his anticipated season debut this past Friday and he has played in three straight games for the Celtics. Despite being limited to 27 minutes per game, Tatum has looked strong, averaging 19.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
With the six-time All-Star out, Jaylen Brown ($9,300) will return to being the Celtics’ alpha. Due to Tatum being sidelined for nearly the entire season, Brown is in the midst of a career campaign, averaging 28.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. Brown is leading Boston with a 36.7% usage rate with Tatum off the floor this season.
Given the Celtics didn’t rule out White during this recent injury report update, the guard appears to be trending towards playing tonight and White and Pritchard will both see expanded roles with Tatum sidelined.
Boston is an impressive 41-21 with Tatum inactive this season, but with the defending champion Thunder on the other side, the Celtics are a 7.5-point underdog on DraftKings Sportsbook. Boston is next in action Saturday vs. the Wizards and Tatum should be back in the lineup for that matchup.
