It’s a win-or-go-home matchup in Boston on Monday, with the winner advancing to the NBA Finals.
Monday brings the decisive Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. With it comes another opportunity to play Yahoo’s single-game contest.
In addition to selecting two flex players, there are three multiplier positions in this single-game format. A player slotted into the Megastar spot will earn double their fantasy points scored. The Superstar spot will earn 1.5X their fantasy points scored. Finally, the Star will earn 1.2X their fantasy points scored. With that in mind, let’s highlight some players to target.
Multipliers
Jayson Tatum ($46): Tatum continued to struggle from behind the arc in Game 6, shooting 0-for-8 on his 3-point attempts. For the series, he is shooting 23.3% from deep. However, he still scored 58.9 Yahoo points in Game 6 on the strength of his fifth straight double-double. As the Celtics look to pull off the improbable comeback, look for Tatum to have an extremely high floor once again.
Jimmy Butler ($43): Butler struggled early in Game 6. He couldn’t buy a bucket and missed plenty of shots inside the paint. However, he caught fire late in the fourth quarter, almost helping the Heat pull off a come-from-behind victory. Although he finished just 5-for-21 from the field, he posted 24 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. If the Heat are going to win this game, they need Butler to produce an even better stat line. Like Tatum, he is one of the safest options for this slate.
Jaylen Brown ($28): Brown went 0-for-4 from behind the arc on Saturday but performed well overall. He scored 44.5 Yahoo points, his highest mark in a game in this series. While his struggles on 3-pointers might make him someone to avoid in the Megastar spot, he still has enough scoring upside to at least consider him for the Star spot.
Flex Plays
Derrick White ($18): White was the hero Saturday, grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting the game-winner as time expired. He logged 42 minutes with Malcolm Brogdon (forearm) out, which helped him score at least 32.4 Yahoo points for the third straight game. Even if Brogdon can return Monday, he has been limited by his injury in this series and has not played well as a result. White should have a large enough role to be worth considering at this salary.
Caleb Martin ($17): The Heat moved Martin into the starting lineup for Game 6, which helped him log 41 minutes. He was excellent, recording 21 points, 15 rebounds, one steal and one block. With him shooting 58.3% in the series, he has averaged 18.2 points and 3.0 3-pointers per game. Expect him to continue to log plenty of minutes in Game 7, making him almost too good to pass up at such a cheap salary.
Player to Avoid
Al Horford ($17): The Celtics don’t usually ask Horford to score much. That has carried over into this series, leaving him to average 6.5 points on 6.5 shot attempts per game. That has contributed to him scoring 25.2 Yahoo points or fewer in four games. White and Martin have higher upsides and the same salary as Horford, so there’s no need to take a chance on adding him to your lineup.
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Mike started covering fantasy sports in 2007, joining RotoWire in 2010. In 2018, he was a finalist for the 2018 FSWA Basketball Writer of the Year award. In addition to RotoWire, Mike has written for Sportsline, Sports Illustrated, DK Live, RealTime Fantasy Sports, Lineup Lab and KFFL.com.
