Joe Mazzulla was tight-lipped after Tuesday’s practice on the status of his injured starting center. In fact, Mazzulla claimed he’d neither seen nor spoken with Neemias Queta, who exited Sunday’s win over the Magic with a left ankle sprain.
Subsequent comments from Queta’s teammates, however, suggested the Celtics big man could miss some time.
“We don’t really have a guy that can replace what Neemi does for us,” Derrick White said. “It’s got to be just a group effort. … Hopefully, he comes back as quickly as possible, but we’ve all got to step up.”
As White noted, Boston does not have a 1-for-1 replacement for Queta, who’s exceeded expectations in his first season as an NBA starter. At the time of his injury, the Portuguese 7-footer ranked third in the league in defensive rating, seventh in net rating and tied for 10th in plus/minus while averaging a career-best 9.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
Though the Celtics were able to beat a shorthanded Orlando squad without Queta, they’ve been a significantly worse team when he sits this season. His efficiency differential — how far Boston’s net rating drops when he is off the floor — is the third-highest of any NBA player, per Cleaning the Glass. Boston’s defensive rating is 25.7 points worse in its non-Queta minutes, the largest disparity in the league.
Against the Magic, who were playing without their starting and backup centers, Mazzulla opted to replace Queta with a series of smaller lineups featuring 6-foot-8 Chris Boucher, 6-foot-8 Josh Minott and 6-foot-7 Jordan Walsh at the five. Luka Garza, Queta’s primary understudy since he signed this offseason, did not leave the bench, nor did reserve big man Xavier Tillman.
“We’ve talked about depth the whole year, and depth looks like a bunch of different guys being able to execute different stuff,” Mazzulla said when asked why Garza was a healthy DNP for the first time this season. “So we just took advantage of the depth that we have and matched what we felt was the personnel to Orlando and how the game was going, and everybody’s got to be able to do that.
“Every game will call for something different based on our lineups, their lineups, the game, and we just have to be able to do that. I think the guys are starting to truly understand that. It’s hard to execute, but it’s necessary, and the process of what goes into that is hard.”
Mazzulla has utilized a deeper bench than he did in his first three seasons as Celtics head coach, but he’s kept his big man rotation shallow of late. Boucher was a DNP-CD in seven of the previous eight games before logging 14 minutes Sunday night.
“It’s always hard for a guy who hasn’t played for a lot of games to go in and have to execute at game speed, and I thought he did that for us,” Mazzulla said. “So it’s a credit to him, especially being in the league for as long as he has, and at the same time, it just validates, like, anybody could help win at any time, and we all have to be able to do that.”
Tillman has played five total minutes in the last nine games. Only two-way players Ron Harper Jr., Amari Williams and Max Shulga have seen less playing time than Boucher and Tillman this season.
On most nights, it’s been exclusively Queta and the 6-foot-10 Garza, who’s helped Boston with his scoring, offensive rebounding and energy but, true to his scouting report, has struggled on the defensive end. Garza’s defensive rebounding rate off missed field goals ranks in the 14th percentile among NBA bigs, per Cleaning the Glass, and his foul rate is the second-highest for his position.
As a rim protector, Garza has blocked just six shots this season to Queta’s 23, and opponents are shooting 71.6% against him inside the restricted area. They’re at 61.4% against Queta.
“I mean, obviously, (Queta) provides a lot of shot-blocking,” Sam Hauser said. “His presence down there, we’re going to make up for another ways, being aggressive, just keeping guys out of the paint, rebounding really well. Just trying to be playmakers on defense.”
Queta’s injury came at an inopportune time for the Celtics. Over their next nine games, they’ll face the top five teams in the Eastern Conference as of Tuesday (Pistons, Raptors, Heat, Cavaliers, Knicks) a total of six times, plus matchups with the Lakers and Timberwolves.
The home matchup with Detroit on Wednesday (5 p.m.) could be particularly challenging, and not just because the Pistons have won 13 straight and own the NBA’s second-best record at 15-2. In the teams’ first meeting on Oct. 26, the Celtics were outrebounded 55-38 and surrendered 19 offensive boards, including five in the final three minutes that helped the Pistons secure a 119-113 win.
Detroit center Jalen Duren, who gobbled up 18 rebounds against Boston, has been one of the NBA’s best young centers this season, averaging 20.3 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
“Obviously, X, Luka, Chris, they’re going to get a bigger chance, and we’re going to need a lot from them,” White said. “But it’s also on us. We don’t have Neemi back there to take out some of the problems or the mistakes we make on the perimeter. It’s going to be a team effort, rebounding and everything.”
This also is one of the first injuries the 2025-26 Celtics have dealt with, excluding the ongoing Achilles rehab that has sidelined superstar Jayson Tatum. The rest of their roster has missed a total of two games: one by Garza for a concussion on Oct. 24 and one by Tillman for personal reasons on Nov. 7.