It’s getting chippy.
After a hard hit in Game 1, Jayson Tatum is “day-to-day” according to head coach Joe Mazzulla with a bone bruise. The team later announced that he’s “doubtful” with ESPN’s Sham Charania reporting that it’s a pain tolerance issue that could stretch late into the playoffs. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s mid-air collision on Saturday was brushed off as a circumstance of playoff basketball, but it’s clear that this series is only going to get a little more physical as we move along.
But if you ask head coach Joe Mazzulla who yelled out to Tatum to “GET UP,” it’s all about “love.”
With the series getting nastier, let’s focus our parlay on who might be the enforcers in Game 2. Jaylen Brown limped into the playoffs nursing a bone bruise. He’s consistently said that he’ll work through the injury and in the opener, he looked solid. The 16 points, 5 rebounds, and two assists were well below his season averages, but his knee didn’t seem to be bothering him, even against a physical Orlando team.
The Eastern Conference Finals and Finals MVP’s biggest area of improvement this season has been his playmaking. His 4.5 assists per game was the highest of his career. Brown and Tatum drove the ball twelve times each on Sunday and passed out of them over a third of the time and with Tatum out, there might be more of a premium for Brown to be Boston’s battling ram. FanDuel has JB at a -166 to dish out over 3.5 assists.
Horford was seemingly the most upset with Orlando’s rough play, calling it “something extra” from KCP. There are no stats for “something extra” necessarily, but Big Al could move in to the starting lineup and with more minutes, his counting numbers could go up. In Game 1, Orlando grabbed ten offensive rebounds in the first half — those extra possessions added up to a one-point lead at halftime.
Tatum grabbed 14 boards in Game 1, effectively playing power forward. But if it’s Horford in the starting lineup, he’ll probably snag more than the five he did on Sunday. FanDuel has Horford at +122 to go over 8.5 rebounds in Game 2.
With Tatum doubtful, the point spread has tightened a bit from Game 1 to Game 2, but we still like the Celtics even at -10.5 tonight. That 3-leg Same Game Parlay wins you $44.37 with a $10 bet.
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