After a terrific start to EuroBasket, Portugal, led by Celtics center Neemias Queta, has come back down to earth in group play this weekend. Portugal fell to 1-2 in Group A play on Saturday with a 95-54 blowout loss to an undefeated Turkey squad.
Queta was the lone bright spot for Portugal with a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds in his 23 minutes. Queta also posted a game-high nine free throw attempts, going 7-of-9 from the free throw line. However, the big man got little help from his teammates as Portugal shot just 30 percent from the field and turned the ball over 21 times in the blowout defeat.
In a tough head-to-head matchup for Queta, Rockets center Alperen Sengun got the best of Queta for Turkey, putting together 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting while also chipping in with a team-high seven rebounds and five assists in the victory that clinched a spot for Turkey in the knockout round.
The performance comes on the heels of a Serbian center and NBA MVP candidate Nikola Jokic going for 23 points and 10 rebounds against Queta in an 80-69 win over Portugal on Friday. Queta struggled in that matchup from a production standpoint, going for six points and two rebounds in his 21 minutes.
Queta will still have a chance in group play as Portugal looks to pull off an upset to advance to the knockout round. Queta will face off against former Celtics teammate Kristaps Porzingis and Latvia on Monday before closing out Group A play with a matchup against Estonia on Wednesday.
Four teams advance out of each group in EuroBasket to the round of 16 and Portugal currently sits in a three-way tie for third place with Latvia and Estonia. Latvia has an easy schedule remaining (including against winless Czech Republic) but a victory over Estonia for Portugal would likely secure a historic for Portugal in the round-of-16 after the country won their first game in EuroBasket in 18 years last week.
Queta and Portugal will take on Latvia at 11 a.m. ET on Monday.
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