UPDATE: Brown and Tatum have been ruled out.
With the Cavaliers winning their 63rd game of the season last night, the Celtics are locked into the number-two seed in the Eastern Conference, making their final three games of the regular season meaningless for the team. As a result, Tatum (ankle), Kristaps Porzingis (reconditioning), Derrick White (ankle), Jrue Holiday (shoulder) and Al Horford (knee) have all been ruled out, while Brown ($8,100, knee) is questionable.
The only reason that Brown hasn’t been ruled out as well is that he is looking to qualify for All-NBA honors and to do so, he must play in 65 games and see at least 20 minutes in 63 of those contests. Brown needs to play in two of the Celtics’ final three games to reach 65 and he doesn’t have to worry about the 20-minute rule, as he has played over 20 minutes in all 63 of his games this season. Brown playing in the next two games and then sitting the regular season finale feels most likely and with him not having to worry about reaching 20 minutes, Brown likely will see a very limited workload if he plays Wednesday, especially when you factor in that he has been dealing with a nagging injury as of late, that has limited him to just 21 minutes in each of his last two starts.
This season, Brown was named to his fourth All-Star team while averaging 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and a career-high 4.5 assists per game. With five of the Celtics’ top six players inactive, Brown will see a huge usage rate if he suits up Wednesday, but the likelihood of him seeing low minutes makes Brown unplayable for DFS. Instead, attacking unders on his players props is the sharp move, once those lines are released on DraftKings Sportsbook.
With Brown in line for a small workload and five key Celtics out, Payton Pritchard ($6,700) should operate as Boston’s main player and Luke Kornet ($5,500), Sam Hauser ($4,300) and Baylor Scheierman ($3,900) should all see expanded roles, making them elite DFS targets.
In the two games the Celtics have been without Tatum, Porzingis, White, Holiday and Horford over the last two seasons, Pritchard has played at an All-Star level, averaging 34.5 points, 11.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game with a 27.5% usage rate, resulting in an eye popping 62.5 FPTS per game.
With a Points+Rebounds+Assists line of only 29.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook, Pritchard is a must-bet for this over, regardless of facing the Magic, who rank third in defensive rating this season.
