Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum Square Off in Battle for Playoff Position

Playoff position is precious, especially in the 2020-21 season with the No. 7 through No. 10 seeds having to participate in the NBA’s Play-In Tournament to get into the final playoff field. 

The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat are fighting for their playoff lives, with the Heat holding a one-game lead on Boston for the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. The two teams will play their first of back-to-back games against each other on Sunday in Boston.

There is an intriguing rivalry in this one, as Jayson Tatum and Jimmy Butler will likely go toe-to-toe on both ends of the floor. Tatum has an interesting player prop projection for total points and assists which is set at 32.5 on Sunday with the over (-120) being slightly favored to the under (-110). 

Butler’s projections have similar odds, but his combined total for points and assists is set at 27.5 with the over (-120) also being favored to the under (-110). On the season, Butler is averaging 21.6 points and 7.2 assists per game this season, so if he were to hit his season averages he’d clear the over in this contest. 

Tatum’s case is a little different. He averages 26.3 points and 4.4 assists per game this season, but the Celtics will be without Jaylen Brown on Sunday, which will make for an even bigger workload for the Celtics' young star.

Tatum struggled mightily in the Celtics’ loss to the Chicago Bulls without Brown, as he shot just 3-for-15 from the field and scored nine points. Tatum has scored over 32 points four times in his last seven games, including a 60-point game against the San Antonio Spurs, but he totaled over five assists just once over that stretch. 

The Celtics will need a big game from Tatum to win Sunday, but the Heat are the sixth-best defense in terms of opponent field goal percentage and have the league's eighth-best defensive rating. The opportunity may be there for Tatum, but 32.5 might be a little out of reach in this one. 

Butler is a different story, as he’s gone over 27.5 combined points and assists in five of his last six games. The only game Butler missed that mark was in Miami’s blowout win over the Cleveland Cavaliers when he played just 29 minutes. 

Since both the Celtics and Heat are playoff-caliber teams, Butler’s likely to get as many minutes as he can handle with a win critical to keeping Miami out of the play-in tournament. Butler’s player prop is a little more manageable than Tatum’s and that’s why we’re rolling with him to hit the over while Tatum goes just under.