To say that Game 1 was a bit of a disappointment for the Boston Celtics would be an understatement. Jayson Tatum scored just 23 points on four-for-15 shooting from beyond the arc, and overall, the Celtics missed 45 three-point attempts, the most by any team in playoff history. Boston once led by 20 points, survived a short miss by Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson, and then proceeded to lose in overtime.
Tatum had a tremendous season, and he’s fully cemented himself as the fifth-best player in the league — no worse, and no better. If the Celtics want to become the first repeat champions since the 2016-18 Golden State Warriors, they might need even more than that from Tatum, given the incredible talent among the eight remaining playoff teams.
That journey will continue tonight in Game 2 against the New York Knicks, which tips off at TD Garden at 7 p.m. ET.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Boston is a 10.5-point favorite, with the total is set for 211. Below, I’ve detailed my favorite prop bets centered around The Anomaly.
Best Jayson Tatum Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Jayson Tatum U27.5 Points (-105)
While I think this game will ultimately prove to be a Celtics blowout victory, I suspect that’ll have more to do with Boston’s secondary players, such as Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. Tatum certainly wasn’t great in the first game, as he didn’t shoot the ball very efficiently and turned it over five times for just the 14th time all season, but Brown — who missed eight of his nine open or wide-open three-point attempts — and Derrick White were bigger problems. There are only so many points to go around, so if Brown, White, and Kristaps Porzingis have better games tonight, some of those points will have to come away from Tatum’s tally. Plus, unlike his teammates, his accuracy on open threes — four-for-13 — wasn’t widely out of line with his regular-season mark.
My pessimism in Tatum is driven by New York’s roster, too. The Knicks start a defensive liability at point guard and center and three wings who are average or better on that side of the ball. Of the three, Mikal Bridges is about average and Josh Hart slightly above average, but OG Anunoby — who has the Tatum assignment — is truly elite and should receive All-Defensive votes. In Game 1, Anunoby clamped Tatum to the tune of three points on one-for-six shooting with an assist and two turnovers. Tatum also shot just four-for-16 against Anunoby during the regular season.
Jayson Tatum First Field Goal Made Type – 3 Points (+155)
The Celtics wouldn’t be blamed if they largely abandoned the three-ball after missing 45 in Game 1. But Boston isn’t the definition of insanity: although it often does the same thing, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect different results. Of the seven players who have received 20 or more minutes per game so far these playoffs, all but two — Brown and Porzingis — have attempted more than 40% of their field-goal attempts from three-point range. It’s simply a matter of math; in each of his five games against New York so far this season, Tatum has attempted at least as many threes as twos, and in three of those games, his first made field goal was a three. During the regular season, the Knicks didn’t allow a ton of three-point attempts, but they did allow opponents to shoot the fifth-highest percentage.
