FanDuel Single-Game Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Heat at Celtics (Game 1)

In a traditional FanDuel NBA lineup, you have a $60,000 salary cap to roster nine players. The salary cap is the same in the single-game setup, but the lineup requirements are different.

You select five players of any position. One of your players will be your MVP, whose FanDuel points are multiplied by two. You also choose a STAR player (whose production is multiplied by 1.5) and a PRO (multiplied by 1.2). Two UTIL players round out the roster, and they don't receive a multiplier for their production.

This makes the five players you select essential in more than one way; you need to focus on slotting in the best plays in the multiplier slots rather than just nailing the best overall plays of the game.

Read this piece by Brandon Gdula for some excellent in-depth analysis on how to attack a single-game slate in NBA DFS.

Heat-Celtics Overview

If the only status in question on today's injury report is Cody Zeller, we're in pretty good shape.

Zeller (face) is questionable to play, and his impact is enough to bother a single-game slate. He logged 8.8 minutes per game in Miami's last series with New York.

The Celtics are at full strength for Game 1.

Player Breakdowns

At The Top

From a single-game DFS perspective, this game rules. We've got three viable MVPs across two clubs.

Jayson Tatum ($17,500) is the headliner following a tremendous showing in Game 7 against Philadelphia, but from a DFS perspective, I'm not really expecting a significant drop even if his scoring touch is a bit off. He's now eclipsed 46 FanDuel points in five straight as his rebounding (9.7 per 36 minutes in the playoffs) has taken a massive leap.

Tatum's 30.5% usage rate in the playoffs leads Boston, but as always, Jaylen Brown ($15,500), at a 27.4% rate, is close enough to consider pivoting. Brown closed the Atlanta series with three straight 30-point scoring efforts and didn't hit that total once against Philadelphia. I've been buying for weeks to no avail, but the usage and peripherals imply the chance is still there.

We also know Jimmy Butler ($17,000) is the one true candidate with upside on the Heat's end. Butler's outstanding playoff run has amounted to 47.5 FanDuel points per 36 minutes, trailing only Tatum (48.4). His 30.6% usage rate is also higher than both of Boston's stars.

As an eight-point underdog, there's a blowout risk with Butler. That should be reflected in popularity, though. Forecasting a tight game, my favorite MVP options are Butler, but Brown could be handy in a blowout. If J.B. is Boston's leading scorer in a three-period rout, you'll pull away from lineups who spent far more salary at the spot.

In The Middle

Bam Adebayo ($13,500) deserves plenty of love, but his top-shelf upside is hard to justify at the very top. He's eclipsed 45 FanDuel points in the playoffs just once. Still, he's established a floor with at least 33 in every game since Butler injured his ankle on April 30th. No other player on the slate has that type of security.

That includes Al Horford ($12,500), who is the most volatile pick on this slate. He needed five stocks (steals plus blocks) to post a huge score in Game 7 on Sunday despite just six real-life points. Averaging 3.89 stocks per 36 in the playoffs, that's the up-and-down nature of his production that'll be difficult to predict game-to-game.

At long last, Kyle Lowry ($11,000) seems to have wrestled the primary point guard job from Gabe Vincent ($8,000) despite Vincent continuing to start. He eclipsed 30 minutes in each of the final two games against the Knicks. Averaging 34.7 FanDuel points per 36 on a 17.6% usage rate, he really just needs the court time to be a solid contributor in DFS.

The first one of the Boston guards is also in this middle tier, and that's starter Marcus Smart ($9,500). Smart's underwhelming Sunday of seven points, four assists, and four rebounds is firmly on the table as the third scoring option, but his usage rate (21.1%) is actually quite high for the salary.

Once again, remember how your lineup correlates in single-game formats. If Smart or Lowry are having an excellent scoring outing, it's likely at the expense of Tatum and Butler, respectively.

At The Bottom

Derrick White ($8,000) took just 50 total shots as he floundered to 42.0% shooting in the Sixers series, which really mucked up Boston's backcourt rotation entering tonight.

He comfortably played ahead of Malcolm Brogdon ($9,000) in the regular season, but Brogdon has now logged at least 28 minutes and closed three of Boston's last four. White played just 12 minutes in Game 7 and would need to be in the lineup to even consider.

The "hot hand" could also help the aforementioned Vincent and Max Strus ($8,500) stay on the floor as Miami's starters in this tier. Vincent's 19.1% usage rate isn't bad if he gets a 30-minute role, but he also struggled from the field (31.8%) in the last series.

Strus has challengers for his role, and Caleb Martin ($7,500), logically to me, should play ahead of Max to combat the length of Brown and Tatum. Martin topped 24 minutes in five of the six games against New York, and he's been productive in the playoffs (27.2 FanDuel points per 36).

A whopping 60.4% of Strus' production comes from scoring, so if his shot is off, he's not giving you anything. Plus, if that's the case, Duncan Robinson ($7,000) has been used to spell him. Robinson closed Game 5 against the Knicks, playing 22 total minutes overall.

Kevin Love ($7,000) is the final name to consider here. The aging vet has had a soft minutes cap as a starter and hasn't done much, but perhaps if Zeller sits, he'd earn a bit more time on the floor.