This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
We're set for another single-game slate Saturday night, as the Heat and Celtics shift their battle to TD Garden for Game 3. Boston has arguably been the better team for all but one quarter of the series thus far, and that's with Marcus Smart and Al Horford missing Game 1 and Derrick White absent for Game 2. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how matters unfold on the Celtics' home floor, where they have dropped two games to the Bucks this postseason.
With just one game on the ledger, we're dealing with DraftKings' Showdown contest rosters, which are comprised as follows:
· Captain's Spot- (Garners points at 1.5x the normal rate)
· Five Utility spots- (Garner points at normal rate)
With players carrying markedly higher salaries when being rostered in the Captain Spot, there are definitely strategic elements particular to single-game lineups. Picking the right player for that multiplier spot becomes particularly key to success, as the higher salary that player carries naturally affects the composition of the rest of your roster.
Slate Overview
Miami Heat at Boston Celtics (Projected total: 207.5 points):
The Heat's Jimmy Butler is clearly the safest DFS player on Miami at the moment, as he once again proved in Game 2 despite his team's 25-point loss. The rest of head coach Erik Spoelstra's squad has been difficult to trust from game to game, though, and Bam Adebayo has opened the series very quietly with just 10- and six-point contributions. On the Celtics' end of things, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Smart all thrived in Game 2, while Tatum and Brown also excelled in Game 1 with their teammate out due to a foot injury. The trio figures to naturally once again spearhead the attack for the hosts in Game 3, while the likes of Al Horford and Robert Williams play complementary roles.
Injury Situations to Monitor
NOTE: Injury reporting is especially fluid in the NBA, where the status of multiple players can change during the course of a day. Therefore, although the following serves as a foundation for the latest injury report as of the time the article is written (usually late morning Eastern time), check back throughout the course of the day with RotoWire for the latest news regarding the status of all players on that night's slate.
Max Strus, MIA (hamstring)/ Status: QUESTIONABLE
Strus continues to play through his hamstring issue and is likely to once again draw the start at shooting guard.
Kyle Lowry, MIA (hamstring)/ Status: QUESTIONABLE
If Lowry manages to return after a four-game absence, Gabe Vincent (hamstring) could return to a bench role.
Other injuries to monitor:
P.J. Tucker, MIA (knee)/ Status: QUESTIONABLE
Gabe Vincent, MIA (hamstring)/ Status: QUESTIONABLE
Elite Players
There are two players with five-figure (non-Captain's spot) salaries on the slate – Jayson Tatum ($11,200) and Jimmy Butler ($10,800). Both are leading candidates for the Captain's spot given their upside and outstanding performances over the first two games of the series.
Tatum has scored 55.5 and 43.3 DK points in the first two games of the series, shooting 52.9 percent over that span. Tatum is now averaging 41.8 DK points in five games against the Heat since the start of the regular season and should naturally continue to exhibit sky-high usage Game 3.
As mentioned earlier, Butler has spearheaded the Heat's efforts, as he's shot over 60.0 percent in each of the first two games of the series. He's averaged 35.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks in that span, and dating back to the regular season, Butler is averaging 43.9 DK points with 55.6 percent shooting in four total games versus Boston.
Additionally, one player with a four-figure salary capable of delivering an elite score is Jaylen Brown ($9,400). Brown has scored 45.5 and 40.0 DK points in the first two games of the series and he's averaging 42.2 DK points against the Heat in five games dating back to the start of the regular season while shooting an impressive 50.0 percent from three-point range.
Expected Chalk
With only one game on the ledger, all of the players just mentioned in the previous section will certainly be very popular. Additionally, the Celtics' Marcus Smart ($7,600) should both also be in plenty of lineups based on their performances thus far in the series.
Key Values
Note: On a multi-game slate, I typically try to highlight players that would be considered under-the-radar plays in this section. Naturally, with such a limited player pool, there will be very few low-rostered players that are likely to also be viable from a DFS perspective, so I'll instead focus on two of the best candidates to provide a strong return relative to salary.
Tyler Herro, MIA ($6,400)
Herro lit up the Celtics for 33.0 DK points in 27 minutes back in Game 1, but that came with the aid of eight rebounds. The rotational guard was much less active on the boards in Game 2 and finished with just 17.8 DK points, and he's only gone 1-for-8 from behind the arc in the two games. However, he's averaged a solid 24.5 DK points overall in five games versus the Celtics since the start of the regular season, and he's demonstrated his ability to spike his production by scoring 27.8 DK points or greater on seven occasions this postseason.
Grant Williams, BOS ($5,600)
Williams is another quintessential tournament play, as he's scored 41.5 and 27.0 DK points in two of his last three games, and he's also produced tallies of 25.5, 26.8, 30 and 33.3 this postseason. Of course, Williams has also turned in his fair share of clunkers, but he's shooting 48.3 percent, including 40.0 percent from behind the arc, in five games against the Heat since the start of the regular season.
