FanDuel Best NBA DFS Picks: Celtics vs. Trail Blazers

The Celtics travel to Oregon for a matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers. Let’s take a look at this NBA game from a FanDuel perspective.

Prior to discussing the Boston Celtics vs. Portland Trail Blazers game, let’s review the rules for FanDuel single game contest.

FanDuel Single Game Contest Rules

Here are the single game contest rules. You have $60,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team MVP. The MVP accumulates 2x times the standard FanDuel fantasy points value.

The remaining four players in your lineup will be the star, pro, and flex plays. The star player will receive 1.5x the standard fantasy points value. The pro player will accumulate 1.2x the standard fantasy points value.

The final two flex positions will receive the standard points value. Having stated that, it is important for you to identify the correct player for your MVP position if you hope to win a FanDuel single game contest.

If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game contest, I highly recommend that you check out the FanDuel website for more details.

Here are my FanDuel Player Selections for tonight’s Boston Celtics vs. Portland Trail Blazers matchup.

FanDuel Player Picks

MVP-Anfernee Simons, $14,500

How important is Portland point guard Anfernee Simons to the Trail Blazers offense? In his last five games played, Anfernee Simons has averaged an impressive 27.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1 steal a game. The data clearly shows that the Portland offense runs through the Trail Blazes point guard.

The Boston Celtics have listed four of the team’s five starters as questionable on the team’s official injury report. Why is that relevant to Simons?

It matters for one specific reason. If multiple Boston players sit out this evening’s contest the Trail Blazers will face a much weaker Celtics defense.

With the availability of multiple Boson Celtics starters currently in doubt for tonight’s game I think Anfernee Simons is the perfect MVP candidate for this one game FanDuel slate.

Star-Deandre Ayton $12,500

On Saturday, Portland center Deandre Ayton returned to the team’s starting lineup after a five-game absence due to injury. How did Ayton perform in his return?

Ayton logged 39 minutes on the court and accumulated 30 points, 19 rebounds, 1 block, and 2 steals in Portland’s 128-118 win over the Toronto Raptors.

Let’s dive into a larger sample size of Ayton’s recent statistical data to get a better idea of his recent performance over a longer period of time. In his last four games played, Ayton averaged 22.5 points, 14.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks a game.

It should also be noted that talented Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis has been officially ruled out of this evening’s game with a hamstring injury. The lack of the Boston big man inside will definitely benefit Ayton’s ability to post a nice offensive performance.

Pro-Jrue Holiday $9,500

In the Celtics 117-107 win over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, Jrue Holiday accumulated 15 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals. Clearly, the Boston point guard is playing great basketball.

Jrue Holiday will be facing a Portland defense that has certainly had issues containing opposing point guards recently. In the Trail Blazers last seven games played, Portland is ranked a lowly 27th in total FanDuel points (50.69) allowed to the point guard position.

Having stated that, I fully expect that Holiday will have offensive success versus this Portland defense tonight.

Flex plays I like this evening: Jayson Tatum $16,500: Al Horford $8,000: Scoot Henderson $8,500: Dalano Banton $7,500.