Celtics vs Warriors Prediction, Pick Today | Tuesday, Dec. 19

Here's everything you need to know about Celtics vs. Warriors on Tuesday, Dec. 19 — our expert prediction and betting picks for today.

The Boston Celtics head to the Bay Area in what should be a thrilling game against the Golden State Warriors. Golden State is trying to get to .500 while the Celtics are holding onto the No. 1 Seed in the East, but it's always fun to catch a NBA Finals rematch from two seasons ago.

Let's get to our Celtics vs. Warriors prediction and pick.

The Boston Celtics have been an absolute wagon this season. They are 20-5 and sit atop the Eastern Conference with the league's best Adjusted Net Rating (+8.6). Boston has had the third-toughest strength of schedule and they've still held up to the pressure.

For this contest, they will be without Luke Kornet and Kristaps Porziņģis (calf) is listed as questionable. Porziņģis has been excellent this season and presents a matchup nightmare for the Warriors. The Warriors likely would try to limit him with Dario Šarić to some extent, but Kevon Looney would struggle to defend Porziņģis on the perimeter.

Boston has been relentless from outside the arc. The Celtics are taking 44.1% of their shots from 3-point range, the highest frequency in the league, and connecting on 37.9% of those tries. This will make for an interesting matchup against the Warriors, whose opponents shoot 35.3% from distance, the sixth-best mark in the league, per Cleaning the Glass. The shot the Warriors have gotten destroyed by has been from mid-range, where opponents are shooting 47.6% – the highest mark in the league. These are shots both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown make with regularity.

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The Warriors will continue to be without Draymond Green (suspension) and Gary Payton II (calf). They have also listed Chris Paul (illness) as questionable.

The Warriors have struggled to find a consistent winning formula this season. They are 12-14 and have a Net Rating of just +0.2. However, there may be reason to believe the Warriors are a bit underrated given they've faced the second-toughest strength of schedule. Golden State is just 4-8 on the season with a -2.6 Net Rating in games against the top 10 teams in point differential, per Cleaning the Glass. The Warriors' offense has held up but they are allowing 119.3 points per 100 possessions in those matchups.

One of the major issues for the Warriors has been a struggle to find consistent and strong lineups. They have found success with Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga, but not necessarily when they've been inserted into the starting lineup. Against a Celtics team that has absolutely dominated is not a place to try and find your footing.

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The Warriors still have Stephen Curry, but the rest of the team has not gelled well this season. Even accounting for their tougher schedule, they cannot compare to the Celtics at this stage of the season. This is Boston's first game of a West Coast road trip and I expect the Celtics to start off strong in this matchup against the Warriors.

Pick: Celtics -5

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