{"id":583951,"date":"2026-02-05T11:55:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T11:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/583951\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T11:55:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T11:55:35","slug":"neemias-queta-unleashed-his-best-version-making-case-to-remain-the-starting-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/583951\/","title":{"rendered":"Neemias Queta unleashed his \u201cbest version,\u201d making case to remain the starting center"},"content":{"rendered":"

During a season where nothing\u2019s guaranteed and rotations are a revolving door, Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta found a way to strengthen his bid at remaining in the team\u2019s starting lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeemy was the best version of himself,\u201d Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters, per CLNS Media<\/a>. \u201cEven though he was only 3-for-4, you felt his presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queta assumed his usual starting spot for the 47th time this season. But this time, he played a critical role in a double-big lineup that also gave Luka Garza his second start of the season. With Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, and Anfernee Simons \u2014 who remains unofficially traded in the Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107 swap with the Chicago Bulls \u2014 out, the Celtics were in a tough spot. On the other end, a healthier Houston Rockets team awaited, one that had last beaten Boston by 27 points on Nov. 1 and had won five of its last six games.<\/p>\n

Short-staffed and on the second night of a back-to-back, the Celtics had little going in their favor. Rookie Ron Harper Jr. was thrown into the fire, making his first career NBA start and immediately tasked with guarding future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant. Payton Pritchard remained in the sixth man\u2019s role to balance the second unit, and on a night that seemed destined for defeat, Queta used Boston\u2019s circumstances to his advantage.<\/p>\n

Queta recorded his eighth double-double of the season, scoring 10 points with 19 rebounds \u2014 including a career-high 12 defensive boards \u2014 and five blocks in Boston\u2019s 114-93 win<\/a> over Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mostly positioning \u2014 getting there early, wedging guys under the rim, and going to get rebounds with two hands,\u201d Queta told reporters, per CLNS Media<\/a>. \u201cI think I did a pretty good job with that tonight. That\u2019s an emphasis for me. I\u2019m trying to go get it with two hands at the highest speed, and you have to be fortunate enough to get a couple of those. But mostly, it\u2019s positioning \u2014 you\u2019ve got to go get it with two hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HOUSTON,<\/a><\/p>\n

HOUSTON, TX – FEBRUARY 4: Neemias Queta #88 and Payton Pritchard #11 of the Boston Celtics high five during the game against the Houston Rockets on February 4, 2026 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Logan Riely\/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Currently, it\u2019s unclear what Vu\u010devi\u0107\u2019s pending arrival will mean for Queta\u2019s role. Vu\u010devi\u0107, a 15-year veteran and two-time NBA All-Star, obviously brings a level of experience Queta doesn\u2019t yet match. Still, Queta\u2019s case isn\u2019t fragile. Since being tossed into the starting lineup for the first time in his career, he\u2019s handled the role better than the Celtics could have expected after parting ways with Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet in the offseason. He hasn\u2019t performed like a downgrade and is developing rapidly, keeping pace with Boston\u2019s rise from underdog to a bona fide contender in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

Queta has been more than a serviceable rim-protecting, lob-target center, adapting seamlessly to what Mazzulla has architected this season\u2019s Celtics to be. Unlike Porzi\u0146\u0123is, Horford, and Vu\u010devi\u0107, Queta is a purely traditional big. He\u2019s not going to keep defenses on their toes on the perimeter, as he isn\u2019t a 3-point threat. Instead, Queta\u2019s movement around the elbow and his off-ball screens help the Celtics establish a fluid offensive flow that gets everyone involved, even when he doesn\u2019t touch the ball.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a scheme that won\u2019t always produce eye-popping box score figures, but it keeps Queta effective.<\/p>\n

Sometimes Queta will finish in the 10\u201315 rebound range; other nights, it\u2019s a modest eight points and eight rebounds on a high-efficiency shooting percentage. But it\u2019s never about the numbers. It\u2019s always about staying impactful towards winning.<\/p>\n

In the fourth quarter Wednesday night, Queta found himself in the middle of his most adventurous sequence, colliding with Houston\u2019s Tari Eason and tumbling several rows into the stands \u2014 only to scramble back on defense seconds later to guard a quick Rockets transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cEason and I got tangled up, and I lost my balance, which threw me all the way up to like the 14th (row),\u201d Queta told reporters. \u201cI champed it up with a fan on the way. On the way down, I was looking at the bench, then they got the ball, and my momentum was taking me the other way. I just tried to stay patient and poised, and I got the block, fortunately. But at the end of the day, it would\u2019ve been a highlight if they didn\u2019t score, so that wasn\u2019t that great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queta\u2019s retelling matched the play\u2019s real-time confusion and drew laughter in the locker room after the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was hilarious,\u201d Derrick White told reporters, per CLNS Media<\/a>. \u201cYeah, Neemy is hilarious. I was just watching him keep going up and up, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Just stop.\u2019 But that was hilarious.<\/p>\n

White continued: \u201cHe was big-time for us tonight \u2014 protecting the paint, rebounding. He did a lot of great things for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

If anything, Queta\u2019s statement performance in Houston didn\u2019t just reinforce his case to keep his role \u2014 it showed how effective he can be within a double-big rotation. Vu\u010devi\u0107, meanwhile, is better suited to last season\u2019s version of the Celtics, entering this year as a career 35.1% shooter from beyond the arc while attempting 4.5 threes through 48 games in Chicago. He\u2019s also an aging center at 35, further clouding how Boston will manage the five spot moving forward.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Queta isn\u2019t overly concerned if Boston needs to resort to a double-big lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s that big of an adjustment,\u201d Queta told reporters. \u201cA lot of the guys who\u2019ve been here the last couple of years \u2014 that\u2019s what we\u2019ve been running. So it\u2019s more about getting used to it, figuring out how to maximize each of the new players, and that chemistry. We started pretty well and rebounded the ball well, too. That\u2019s stuff we can still get better at, but I don\u2019t think it was that big of an adjustment for us tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During a season where nothing\u2019s guaranteed and rotations are a revolving door, Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta found…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,37650,3798,46,21388,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-583951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-boston-celtics-articles","12":"tag-bostonceltics","13":"tag-celtics","14":"tag-celtics-news","15":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116017898154358831","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}