Jayson Tatum's Return: Best Tatum Bets and Props for His First Game Back

He's back!

Jayson Tatum will make his return to the court tonight for the Boston Celtics, and FanDuel Sportsbook is offering some Tatum specials to mark the occasion.

Using FanDuel's NBA odds, what are the best ways to bet Tatum today in his clash with the Dallas Mavericks?

Please note: lines and projections are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published. All NBA odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook.

Best Jayson Tatum Prop Bets

Method of First Basket -- Free Throw (+470)

Three-point field goal (+190) and other (+190) are priced as the favorites in this market. I'm intrigued by the +470 odds on Tatum's first points being a free throw.

In 2024-25, Tatum took an average of 6.1 free throws per game. That clip was 6.7 and 8.4 the two seasons prior to that. He's a capable driver and is good at drawing fouls. He's also an 84.0% free-throw shooter for his career, so we can feel pretty good about his chances of converting if he gets to the line.

Also, the Mavs are a good matchup for this as Dallas commits the most fouls per game (18.2).

This is obviously a bit of a dart-throw market, but it's a fun one, too. I can see Tatum wanting to get to the rack to kick things off, and maybe that earns him a trip to the charity stripe.

Tatum Under 20.5 Points, Rebounds and Assists (-125)

No one outside of the Celtics knows for sure what Tatum's minutes will look like. I lean toward a light night.

Tatum is coming off a serious injury, and I'm assuming Boston's goal over the rest of the regular season is to do everything they can to safely ramp up Tatum for the playoffs. The Celtics have 20 games left to do that, so there's plenty of time. I think they'll play it super safe today, and I wouldn't be surprised if Tatum saw somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes.

In addition to the obvious injury-return angle, Boston is a 15.0-point favorite over a Dallas team that is on the second leg of a back to back, so there's gobs of blowout risk tonight.

Maybe I'll be way off on my Tatum minutes estimation, but with all that's at stake for both Tatum and the Celtics, I'm banking on Tatum not seeing that much run in his first game back, pushing me to the under on his PRA line of 20.5.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.