The journey of backup Boston Celtics big man Neemias Queta from deep rotation option to starting center has been a roller coaster if nothing else. From Celtics fans reeling in the wake of the exists of Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kornet to the way he played in FIBA EuroBasket play this summer, it quickly became clear Queta would be Boston’s best big man under contract to play the five this season.
The excitement of seeing what he could do with the Portuguese National Team soon gave way to trepidation as the play from preseason and early in the 2025-26 NBA regular season began to unfold with the Lisbon native looking like a less polished version of the center we saw dominating FIBA play this summer. But now Queta appears to have found a groove with Boston in his new role, having a handful of solid games while putting up one of his best games of the still-young season vs. the Utah Jazz with 15 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, a s steal and a block.
“He just played well,” said Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla of Queta’s play after Boston’s 136-107 blowout win over the Jazz at TD Garden this past Wed. (Nov. 5) night.
“Again, bigs, they have got a lot to do on both ends of the floor, but (the) timing on his shifts defensively was good, his screening was good, his offensive rebounding was good,” added the Celtics coach. “He played the way that we know he can. So he’s got to keep fighting for that. But yeah, he played well tonight.”
And with Boston’s big man rotation being as thin as it has ever been in recent years, the Celtics will need more of the same from the Portuguese center. Thankfully for fans, it looks like he is up to the challenge.
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