[Forsberg] How will Celtics proceed in frontcourt if Neemias Queta misses time with ankle injury?
November 24, 2025
[Forsberg] How will Celtics proceed in frontcourt if Neemias Queta misses time with ankle injury?
12 comments
From Chris Forsberg:
Neemias Queta owns the best net rating on the team, with the Celtics outscoring opponents by 16.8 points per 100 possessions in his 396 minutes of court time. Perhaps more noteworthy: Boston has been outscored by 6.3 points per 100 possessions in Queta’s 372 minutes off the court. He’s the only player on Boston’s roster in the negative for off-court net rating.
Which, stated more simply, suggests the Celtics play their best basketball with Queta on the court, and their worst basketball without him.
The team’s rebounding percentages plummet without Queta, while Boston’s defensive rating spikes by 20.3 points per 100 possessions when he’s not on the floor.
With Orlando operating without key frontcourt personnel, the Celtics were able to lean into small-ball lineups, often featuring Josh Minott at the center position. Boston built a 26-point first-half lead, then held on at the finish line for a 138-129 triumph at TD Garden.
A lineup featuring Minott alongside the remaining starters of Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Jordan Walsh was a team-best +9 in just under eight minutes together. Another lineup that paired Minott, Pritchard, and Brown with Anfernee Simons and Hugo Gonzalez was also +6 in just under four minutes together.
Mazzulla admitted the Celtics were able to get away with going small given the limited personnel that Orlando had available. If Queta were to miss any additional time, the ability to stay small gets a bit more daunting, especially with size-filled teams like Detroit, Minnesota, Cleveland, and New York looming on the schedule.
More Boucher minutes. Haven’t seen a lot of him in the last few games except for yesterday.
Garza is getting minutes but didn’t play yesterday.
Give those guys both minutes.
[removed]
Maine celtics are off until the 28th, just play amari next game and see what happens.
Literally have nothing to lose, if he sucks he can go back to maine for more development. But i don’t really see how it helps to keep him in maine playing against subpar bigs, might as well have him develop against the top competition. He’s averaging a double/double right now on 65% shooting and 66% from the line.
Great question. Last nights game would have been much different if Orlando had Carter or bitadze. Not sure why Garza wasn’t out there but we have a clear lack of reliable bigs and if we want any chance of contending we need to fix that
No centers, just guards hucking 3s. Every game will be 145-130
At this rate we’ll probably start Payton Prtichard as our center
Is there any update on his injury?
I’ve really liked Garzas game. His numbers aren’t as good as queta’s but he’s really got hustle. More minutes for him will help him be a better backup when Queta comes back.
We don’t seem to have any big man depth after that. Hopefully they call up Amari Williams fro the G league and he gets some development minutes.
Queta was a liability last year. Really was getting his legs down, this year he got minutes and figured shit out. Would be great if Garza and Amari could get the same minutes and develop some real talent.
We will proceed badly
Time for Joe to suit up and just strand in the paint daring anyone to come at him
12 comments
From Chris Forsberg:
Neemias Queta owns the best net rating on the team, with the Celtics outscoring opponents by 16.8 points per 100 possessions in his 396 minutes of court time. Perhaps more noteworthy: Boston has been outscored by 6.3 points per 100 possessions in Queta’s 372 minutes off the court. He’s the only player on Boston’s roster in the negative for off-court net rating.
Which, stated more simply, suggests the Celtics play their best basketball with Queta on the court, and their worst basketball without him.
The team’s rebounding percentages plummet without Queta, while Boston’s defensive rating spikes by 20.3 points per 100 possessions when he’s not on the floor.
So, when Queta limped off the court after landing awkwardly trying to block a shot early in [Boston’s win over the Orlando Magic](https://www.nbcsportsboston.com/nba/boston-celtics/live-updates-celtics-magic-highlights-stats-score/749303/) on Sunday, it put the Celtics in a precarious spot.
With Orlando operating without key frontcourt personnel, the Celtics were able to lean into small-ball lineups, often featuring Josh Minott at the center position. Boston built a 26-point first-half lead, then held on at the finish line for a 138-129 triumph at TD Garden.
A lineup featuring Minott alongside the remaining starters of Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Jordan Walsh was a team-best +9 in just under eight minutes together. Another lineup that paired Minott, Pritchard, and Brown with Anfernee Simons and Hugo Gonzalez was also +6 in just under four minutes together.
Mazzulla admitted the Celtics were able to get away with going small given the limited personnel that Orlando had available. If Queta were to miss any additional time, the ability to stay small gets a bit more daunting, especially with size-filled teams like Detroit, Minnesota, Cleveland, and New York looming on the schedule.
[Read more here](https://www.nbcsportsboston.com/nba/boston-celtics/neemias-queta-injury-frontcourt-depth/749642/).
More Boucher minutes. Haven’t seen a lot of him in the last few games except for yesterday.
Garza is getting minutes but didn’t play yesterday.
Give those guys both minutes.
[removed]
Maine celtics are off until the 28th, just play amari next game and see what happens.
Literally have nothing to lose, if he sucks he can go back to maine for more development. But i don’t really see how it helps to keep him in maine playing against subpar bigs, might as well have him develop against the top competition. He’s averaging a double/double right now on 65% shooting and 66% from the line.
Great question. Last nights game would have been much different if Orlando had Carter or bitadze. Not sure why Garza wasn’t out there but we have a clear lack of reliable bigs and if we want any chance of contending we need to fix that
No centers, just guards hucking 3s. Every game will be 145-130
At this rate we’ll probably start Payton Prtichard as our center
Is there any update on his injury?
I’ve really liked Garzas game. His numbers aren’t as good as queta’s but he’s really got hustle. More minutes for him will help him be a better backup when Queta comes back.
We don’t seem to have any big man depth after that. Hopefully they call up Amari Williams fro the G league and he gets some development minutes.
Queta was a liability last year. Really was getting his legs down, this year he got minutes and figured shit out. Would be great if Garza and Amari could get the same minutes and develop some real talent.
We will proceed badly
Time for Joe to suit up and just strand in the paint daring anyone to come at him
