Neemias Queta shows significant progress in Celtics loss to Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
At this time last season, Neemias Queta was a borderline G Leaguer in a two-way contract with the Boston Celtics.
On Wednesday night, he guarded Stephen Curry 1-on-1 in crunch time.
It’s a whirlwind 365 days as the Portuguese big man, who earned a permanent roster spot in Boston last April, won his first NBA title in June, then inked a three-year, $7.2 million contract with the team in free agency. With Kristaps Porzingis still recovering from offseason surgery and the team managing Al Horford’s minutes, Queta saw an expanded role early in the 2024-25 season and continues to make impressive progress.
Queta’s latest jump came Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden, where he logged a career-high 28 minutes in a starting role and had 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting with eight rebounds (five offensive) and two blocks. in Boston’s 118-112 loss. Queta’s energy on the glass has been particularly notable, as he has now tallied at least four offensive rebounds in four of his eight games played this season.
“Neemi did a great job just getting us offensive rebounds, getting extra possessions,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game.
Queta also shined as a rim runner Wednesday night, protecting the rim on defense and throwing down lobs on offense in an effort reminiscent of former Celtics great Robert Williams.
Like Williams early in his Celtic career, Queta is still raw. He sometimes gets caught out of position or goes for pump fakes on defense. But the 25-year-old big man clearly has upside and possesses impressive defensive versatility, as evidenced by his ability to hold his own against Curry when the Warriors chased him with switches.
“I thought Neem did a good job on him,” Celtics guard Derrick White said of Queta’s defense on Curry. “He makes tough shots. He doesn’t stop moving. So, I give a lot of credit to Neemi. He competed at a high level today.”
Queta posted a team-best plus minutes of +13 while the rest of the starting five were in the negatives, a testament to the impact he made on both ends. Wednesday was not an aberration, however; the 7-foot big man tallied 10 points and seven rebounds in his first career start Monday against the Atlanta Hawks and had a 12-point performance on 6 for 6 shooting against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.
Perhaps more importantly, he’s taking Mazzulla’s coaching to get better at the details on both ends of the floor.
“He does a good job of just understanding trends,” Mazzulla said. “He does a good job executing the coverages we have.
“He forced (Curry) inside three a few times to his right hand. So, he’s just getting better and better at understanding what the scheme is and what the tendencies are and then just the situational basketball of making reads on the defensive end. So he’s definitely growing .”
Luke Kornet left Wednesday’s game with a hamstring injury, so if he’s forced to miss time, it could give Queta an even bigger chance to make an impact while Porzingis is still sidelined. And if Queta can continue to provide meaningful minutes in the frontcourt, that would be a great development for a team that took a chance on the big man after the Sacramento Kings let go of him last year.
